The Other Daughter of Serenity
by Da Games Elite
Summary: As requested by Ange Tsukino of , this is the story of her OC, Ange, Chibiusa's sister, who follows her sister down the rabbit hole out of sheer jealousy of her role as a Senshi, only to encounter unbridled evil. Please, R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Before I start with this fan-fiction, they are a few things that must be said before I get started. The character I am about to write with is an OC who I did not create in any way. Rather, this is an OC created by Ange Tsukino from .com. Ange had asked me to create a fan-fic based on her character, but gave me freedom to use the character as I saw fit. This is my interpretation of the character.

Also, as usual, please review! I love reading reviews! They make me feel special! ^_^

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The Other Daughter of Serenity

**Part 1**

The sun rose over the skyline of crystalline buildings as Ange Tsukino's eyes slowly opened. Slightly blinded by the light filtering through her window, she propped herself up, rubbing the sunlight out of her large, soft eyes with her soft knuckle. Her small chubby form reluctantly abandoned her bed, only to have her orange hair fall over her back. She glanced around at the crystalline walls of her palace chamber, only to abandon her room in search of her older sister.

"Chibiusa! Chibiusa!" she called, feeling her heart beat every second she didn't find her sister. Had she disappeared off the face of the Earth? Had her elder sister simply vanished completely?

Finally, she saw someone. A long straight mane of black hair passing through a doorway. With wide eyes, Ange sprinted toward the long legged figure, shouting out, "Princess Mars!"

The Princess of the Scarlet Planet glanced out at Ange, a slight smile on her lips. "Ah, Ange. What're you—"

"Have you seen my sister anywhere? Please say yes," Ange stammered.

"Small Lady?" Mars asked, her voice heavy with irritation, "Isn't she still sleeping, like every other day?"

"Well, possibly…"

"Did you check her bedroom?"

"No."

"Well then, go check there before you startle people by saying your sister just disappeared into thin air, okay? I mean, this isn't the first time you've said this, but someone who didn't hear this routine before, like your lazy mother, well, it might cause someone to actually get worried, okay?"

Ange nodded, feeling blush run up her face, as she dashed off toward her sister's room, finding her, as Mars had said, in her bed, her body sprawled out over her covers, her pajamas sloppily thrown on her body. Ange slowly drew closer to Chibiusa, crawling onto her bed, slowly poking her older sister's cheek. Finally, Chibiusa slapped Ange's hand away, opening up her eye, slowly.

"Ange? What's going on?"

"It's already morning, Chibiusa," Ange replied, a frown on her face.

"But it's only…good-night…" Chibiusa rolled over on her bed, cuddling up into a fettle position.

Ange couldn't allow her sister to remain asleep all day! She had woken up this early when the sun rose, so if she wasn't going to sleep, neither was her sister! She shook her sister awake, violently, until Chibiusa tumbled from her bed, landing heavily on her arm. Ange's eyes widened in shock as Chibiusa rose to her feet, cradling her hurt arm.

"Are you okay?" Ange stammered.

"What was that sound?" Ange glanced over her shoulder to see Princess Venus sprint into the room, her eyes wide. Venus glanced at the two of them before asking, gently, "Uh, what just happened?"

"I—" Ange didn't know what to say. She had just hurt her sister. Her arm was hurt. Ange thought she might even see some blood. She couldn't stand it. She tried to tell her that it was an accident and that it wasn't her fault, but she knew that wasn't the case. It had been her fault that her sister had fallen and hurt her arm. No one could convince her otherwise. After all, it was her fault that she had chosen to shake her sister until she fell.

But Chibiusa only smiled. "I fell from the bed. No big deal."

"Uh-huh…" Venus replied, unconvinced yet satisfied.

Ange glanced back at Chibiusa. "Are you okay, big sister?"

"Perfectly fine!" Chibiusa replied, waving her off with her good hand.

The day passed on slowly. It took a few hours before their mother awoke, although their father, King Endymion, had woken up several hours before even Ange, working away in private in order to discuss a certain matter with a Princess named Saturn, a Princess Ange had never seen before.

There came a point in the day where Ange once again lost sight of her sister, only to be told by Princess Mercury that Ange had to be with Pluto again. Who was Pluto? Where was she? Why was Ange spending more time with Pluto than she was with Ange? Why didn't Ange know who Pluto even was? And, perhaps most important, why didn't Ange have a friend like Pluto and her sister did? It wasn't fair!

"Mommy," Ange said, approaching her mother as she was preparing for a bath. Serenity staggered backward the moment her daughter appeared behind her, and, quickly retrieving the nearest towel to throw over her chest, she turned around to see Ange.

"Oh, I thought it was Rei," her mother sighed, her head slumping over.

"But mommy, I actually said 'mommy'," Ange replied, cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, that's right. You did," her mother stammered once again, "So, uh, what is it, Ange?"

"Who's Pluto?"

"Sailor Pluto? She's the guardian of Time."

"Time?"

"Yes. She guards the Gates of Time for all eternity. Why?"

"Why does Chibiusa know her?"

"Well, one time the Small Lady was playing, and accidentally found the door that lead to her domain. Chibiusa went through the threshold, and found herself in a cloudy oblivion. She was really afraid and everything. That is until she found Pluto, who brought her back to our world safe and sound. Since then, Chibiusa and Pluto have been good friends."

"I see."

"Pluto even allowed Chibiusa to go back in time before, too. Do you remember that horrible time when everything turned dark and rancid?"

"No."

"I suppose you were asleep when it happened," Serenity replied, sighing, "You must have been frozen, like ice cream! Hey, why don't you ask Ami to get you Ice Cream?"

"Okay!"

As Ange was eating her ice cream, Chibiusa emerged from an opposite doorway, a smile on her lips. Ange looked up, and smiled, despite the chocolate mustache left from her ice cream on her upper lip. "Chibiusa! Where were you?"

"Visiting Plu," Chibiusa replied.

"Pluto?"

"Uh-huh!" Chibiusa said with a nod.

"What's she like?" Ange asked, curiously.

"Oh, she's magnificent!" Chibiusa replied, a smile on her lips, "She's very tall, beautiful. Not quite like mama, but an almost foreign beauty to her. I don't know how to describe it all too well."

"Okay, I know what you mean," confidently replied the utterly confused Ange.

Chibiusa smiled softly as she said, maturely, "Aren't I good at describing things like that?"

"Yes, yes," Ange replied, still confused.

"Ange, where's mama?"

"She's taking a bath. Why?"

"I want to show her something really cool."

"Really cool?" Ange repeated, confused.

Chibiusa smiled a broad, toothy grin as she said, giddily, "I'm so excited! I can't wait to show her."

"Show her what?"

Chibiusa grinned even wider than before. "I have to show everyone at once."

"Show everyone what at once?"

Standing in the threshold to the chamber was their mother, still gathering her long hair into two buns. Her gaze was focused on Chibiusa, which set Ange off slightly. "What's up, Small Lady?"

"Mama!" Chibiusa rushed over to her mother, pulling on the end of her gown. Her mother acknowledged her daughter, going down to a single knee as Chibiusa started tugging on the long tail of hair until her mother's ear was next to Chibiusa's lips. She whispered into her mother's ear. At first, the Queen's expression was confused, then it turned into shock, then happiness, than pride, and then triumph.

"That's amazing, Chibiusa!" her mother cried, hugging her small daughter so tightly that Ange felt like her sister would snap in two. Ange felt a tickle in her sides, as though the arms she longed to embrace her with that strength were actually resting around her. Their mother rose into the air to shout, "Wait till I tell Rei! That'll keep her from talking about me behind my back!"

"That's mature," Chibiusa muttered, "Well, mama, I'd like to show everyone at once, if that's okay with you."

"Well, even better." Her mother's face softened as she said this. "Should I get everyone together?"

"Yes! Immediately!"

Within a half hour, her mother had gathered Princess Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Luna, Artemis, Diana, and even King Endymion into their living room. With a look of pride on her face, Queen Serenity took Chibiusa to the forefront of the group as she said, with a strong voice, "Everyone, Chibiusa has an important announcement to make."

Still confused, Ange looked back at Chibiusa. An important announcement? What sort of announcement? Was it something about Pluto? Was it something inside of the chamber that she had found? Was it candy? Anxiously, Ange awaited the object that Chibiusa had gathered from beyond the Time Gates.

Chibiusa reached into her pocket, and withdrew a small object. Ange couldn't see clearly what it was, but the moment she unveiled it, the others gasped in astonishment. Their father even leapt from his seat, his eyes wide in a mixture of both pride and amazement. "It's not possible!" Endymion stammered, a heavy note of pride in his voice.

What happened next was a blur for Chibiusa. Chibiusa shouted an incantation into the air, which was proceeded by a huge flash of light. Her sister's clothing dematerialized, leaving her nude body drifting in the air as clothing wrapped itself around her pudgy form. After a second of staring into the nimbus of light, her sister was standing before them, wearing garments akin to the ones the other Princesses around Ange wore. She was astonished, unable to comprehend just what was going on.

"My God…" Mars stammered, her eyes wavering in their sockets.

"Ha! Beat that, Rei!" her mother shouted in triumph, pointing at Mars.

"Uh, Usagi," Mercury stammered, "What exactly do we call Small Lady in this form, anyway? I mean, it can't be Sailor Moon because you're Sailor Moon."

"What about Sailor Chibi-Moon?" Luna suggested.

"Sounds like a good name," Endymion replied, "Small Lady, what do you think?"

"I think it's perfect!"

Everyone was so happy for Chibiusa. Everyone was looking at her, cheering her on for her triumph. Well, what about Ange? She had done so many extraordinary things. Why was it always Chibiusa who was noticed? She was important. She was special. Why was it that her elder sister was always the one who was acknowledged and appreciated, anyway? So she had a special dress now. Ange could do that. She could just dress up like that. Was it because of that light that they were all amazed, because the dress wasn't very special. Ange could make it from scratch if she wanted to. What was so special about Chibiusa that Ange couldn't replicate?

What?


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

"Luna!"

"What is it, Ange?"

"What's so special about Chibiusa just changing clothes?"

Ange's wide expressive eyes stared expectantly at the little cat, as though she held the answers. Ange knew that Luna was an authority of many matters that were above most other people's head, including at one point her mother. Surely, if anyone was going to explain the significance of this event, it was Luna.

"Changing clothes? You do realize that your sister has just ascended, right?" Luna asked.

"Ascended…?"

"Let me explain," Luna murmured, a little surprised, "Chibiusa has just uncovered her hidden power of the Sailor Senshi."

"Sailor Senshi?" Ange replied, cocking her head in confusion.

"That's right," Luna said, nodding her head, "You know what a Sailor Senshi is, right?"

"Can you explain to me?"

Luna sighed, a little put off. "Okay then, a Sailor Senshi is a chosen warrior whose mission is to defend the planet from the forces of darkness. You see, originally, the Princesses were the Sailor Senshi, defending Tokyo nearly a thousand years ago."

"So mommy was a Sailor Sushi too?"

"Sailor Senshi, Ange, and yes, she was."

"I see. So why is Chibiusa a Sailor Senshi?"

"Well, the truth is that we believe Chibiusa might have inherited your mother's gifts, little Ange," Luna replied, truthfully.

"Wait, did I in…in…" Ange tried sounding out the word, much to Luna's irritation.

"Inherit, Ange. Inherit."

"Right!"

"It's possible, but we don't know," Luna replied.

Ange felt the pit of her stomach drop. Didn't know? What did she mean she didn't know? Was she hiding something from Ange that she aught to know about? Was there some sort of secret that she didn't know of, some enigma that was not known at this time? Or was it just that Luna did not want to break the news to Ange that it was more likely she'd be mauled by rabbit Great White Sharks in the middle of the stratosphere than becoming a Senshi.

"I see," Ange muttered, her entire figure slumping down.

"Now, chin up, Ange!" Luna said, licking her soft arm gently.

"Thanks, Luna," Ange said, attempting to look calm, only to walk away, her mind focused on her own personal failure. She couldn't be a Sailor Senshi. Her dreams of topping Chibiusa were shattered. She damned it all. Why was Chibiusa the best? Why did people treat her like she was the greatest of them all? She wasn't so terrific, was she? Why was she so special?!

It was a few days later that their mother took Chibiusa aside to talk to her. Ange waited impatiently for her sister's return. Finally, after an infinitely long half hour of waiting, Chibiusa reemerged, a smile on her face. "What happened, Chibiusa?" Ange asked, curiously.

"I'm going back to Tokyo!" Chibiusa cheered, "In the past, anyway."

"You're going back in time?"

"Yup. I just need to have Pluto send me back," Chibiusa replied, smiling.

"But how is that possible?"

"Well, I just travel through the Gates of Time is all," Chibiusa said, as though it were obvious and Ange, even being the little girl she was, should have known this.

Ange stared at Chibiusa as her sister turned her back on her to run perhaps to Princess Mars to brag. A trip to the past? Why did she get a trip to the past? What was so special about that? Why was she just going to go back in time and slack off, go have fun on a trip, without Ange? Why wasn't Ange even included? It wasn't fair, it was injust, and no one could convince her otherwise.

"Mommy!" Ange snapped, rushing off to her mother, who was walking out of the room Chibiusa had just been inside of.

"Ange? What's the matter?"

"Why does Chibiusa get to go on a trip and I don't?" Ange snapped.

"Uh, well, Ange, you see, Chibiusa is going to go train in the past."

"What?"

"She's going to be trained by myself as a young girl. If she's going to be a Sailor Senshi, she'll probably receive better training by my younger self than myself."

"But why can't I go?" Ange stammered, confused.

"Well, the truth is, Ange, that you're too weak to go."

Too weak? Ange's eyes widened as tears filled her eyes. Her mother's eyes widened too. She slapped her forehead in frustration as she added, hastily, "That didn't come out right. I mean your body is too frail to make the journey to and from. I mean, you get sick so often, and you're so skinny, too. I mean, I just think that the journey would be hard for you. When you're older, maybe."

When she was older? What if Ange didn't want to wait until she grew up? What if she didn't want to wait until she was older? What if she didn't want to wait until she was stronger? What if she wanted to go now?!

Later that day, Ange sought out Chibiusa, eventually finding her in her bedroom. Ange approached gently, looking up at her sister with her soft, gentle eyes. "Sister?"

Chibiusa glanced over her shoulder, a smile on her face. "Ange?"

"What's the past like?"

"What?"

"The past. What's it like?"

"Well, it's a lot different than now," Chibiusa replied, struggling to describe it, "It's not perfect, but it's very enjoyable."

"What's mommy like?" Ange asked, curiously.

Chibiusa's lips curled as she held in a giggle with her soft hands. Ange didn't quite understand what was so funny. Was mommy a little goofy in the past? She didn't know, but she sure wished she could find out. After all, she deserved to travel back in time alongside Chibiusa, right? Right?

The next day, Ange watched along with the rest of her family as Chibiusa approached the Door of Time, a cheerful smile on her cherubic face. She wore a sack strapped on her back, filled with toys, food, and a letter handwritten by their mommy. Mother turned to her, a serious yet pleased expression on her face. "Do you have everything?"

"Yes."

"Have the letter?"

"Yes."

"Have Luna-P?"

"She's the bag."

"I see. You're all set, then?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright then," their mother said with a smile, "Take care."

Chibiusa turned to face each of the audience in turn. Her eyes landed on Ange for a moment. Ange was not crying, but rather pouting. Yes, pouting. Not because Chibiusa was leaving, or even that her dear sister was leaving her. Rather, she was upset because she couldn't be going through that very doorway, that she wasn't traveling down the trail of time into the past, that she wasn't going on a journey with her sister.

"I'll be back, Ange," Chibiusa said with a smile.

"I know."

"Don't worry!"

"I'm not."

Chibiusa approached the door, hesitantly swinging them open with a flurry. She departed through the doors, disappearing into the luminous nimbus of light beyond. Ange closed her eyes, shielding them with her soft arm. Once the doors closed, the light disappeared, along with her sister. Ange looked at the door, cold and dead, as the crowd slowly turned into itself and discussed the new course of events that had transpired.

Ange wanted to go through the gates. She wanted to see what was beyond that light. She had to see! She must see! She would see!

That night, as the moon rose into the Heavens, Ange slunk out of her room, a bag filled with clothing slung over her back. She slowly snuck down the halls, aware that no one but a mouse or two was awake. She could even hear her mother snoring loudly with her father cradled up next to her. What a cute couple, sleeping and unaware of Ange's stealthy escape to the past. Ange took a moment to admire them before going down the hallway to the doors.

Upon reaching the doors, she stuck her hand out, her fingers curling around the handles. She struggled to open the doors, finding them fastened shut. However, after a moment of struggling, the door creaked open. Afraid to be caught red handed, she slunk within the small crack between the doors, and disappeared into a world of light.

Ange blinked painfully as she tried to make out the world before her. She was standing on what appeared to be a gigantic field of clouds. The light that was blinding her emerged from the very fabric of reality that swirled around her eyes, consuming her and turning her this way and that. She was afraid she was going to step off the edge of the Earth, afraid of what lied beyond the clouds, when a powerful, deep female voice spoke in a powerful, authoritative tone.

"You have broken the taboo!"

Ange spun around on her feet to see a massive rod inches away from her skull. She staggered backward, her eyes focused on the single, massive garnet sphere that glinted light off of its smooth side. As her eyes wavered in their sockets, the powerful voice spoke again, in a softer tone.

"Oh, who are you?"

The tall woman before Ange lowered the staff to her side, staring down into the little girl's eyes. She was an exotically beautiful woman, with long dark hair, coffee colored skin, and deep, green eyes that stared directly into Ange's own two irises. With a relaxed expression on her face, the woman said, gently, "Are you Small Lady's sister?"

Ange nodded, gently. The woman went down to a single knee, the staff pressed against her chest, her very heart. "I apologize if I startled you, Lady Ange. My name is Sailor Pluto."

Lady Ange? Sailor Pluto? Ange felt as though she had just stepped into a fairy tale to which Ange did not know the end or the solution. However, the title Lady Ange simply sent a chill up her tender body that drove a small smile to her lips. "Sailor Pluto?"

"That's correct, Lady Ange," Sailor Pluto replied.

"Where am I, Sailor Pluto?"

"This is the world of time, a world where physics cease to exist and where a wrong turn can mean certain oblivion," Sailor Pluto said, gently, "Why are you here? Are you lost?"

"Not at all," Ange replied, struggling to come up with an excuse, "It's just that Chibiusa forgot something back home and I have to give it to her."

"Is that so?" Pluto replied, a slight note of concern on her face.

"Yes."

"Well then, I'll deliver it to her…but I can't leave this post…alright, little Lady Ange, I'll allow you access to Chibiusa, but you must promise to return as quickly as possible."

Ange couldn't believe it. She was actually being allowed to the past! Allowed to go on an adventure like her sister! She felt butterflies dancing in her belly as she took a few steps deeper into the clouds. "Lady Ange, just go forward in a straight line until you reach a solid oak wood door. There, you will find the Small Lady's time era."

Ange nodded, and walked down into the brilliant nimbus of light. As the minutes passed, Ange noted that her chest was heavy. She ignored the sensation, simply continuing down the path, down the road, each minute taking longer to pass than the last. She could feel her legs grow weak after what had to be a half hour of walking. Pluto had disappeared behind her, and, by now, she had adjusted to the brilliant light. She kept moving, however, sure that a reprieve from her weariness existed at the end of this pathway.

However, after what had to be an hour passed, Ange could barely breath. She clutched at her chest, her entire body numb from exhaustion. She continuously fell to her knees, wheezing heavily for a minute or two before pushing herself up again to continue. Finally, however, she fell into the clouds, unable to push herself up again.

What was going on? Why couldn't she breathe? No matter how hard she tried, she could not catch her breath, nor was she even able to even exhale. What was wrong with her? Her legs were numb with pain, and so was her torso. What happened to her? The world was spinning out from under her, up until it was impossible to determine what was up, down, left, or right. She wanted to cry and call her mother, cry for help, cry for anyone, just to save her from her suffering.

"Mommy…mommy…" she sobbed, weakly, as the clouds swirled around her, covering her entirely.

The clouds swirled around her, consuming her entirely. She could feel the ground give out from under her, until she began to descend, faster and faster, into oblivion, into the light. And then the light faded away, and only darkness remained.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

"So what did you get?"

What was going on?

"Some ramen."

Where was she?

"Ramen? Disgusting."

Who was talking?

"What's wrong with ramen, Haruka?"

Slowly, light filtered down between Ange's eyelids, her lashes, the blurred colors in the air beyond comprehension to her young, weak mind. She tried to move, her heavy body like lead. Soft lead, yes, but lead nonetheless. She could barely twitch a finger, but that didn't keep her from trying.

"Well, it's just not my taste, Michiru. I'd take some fresh meat over it any day."

She tried to make a sound in her throat, but it almost felt as though there were straps holding her voice deep inside her chest. She tried to moan, tried to grunt, but all that came out was a weak hiss of air as she gasped roughly for air, trying to turn in vain, trying to get those speakers' attention over to her, to see that she was alive, struggling to be heard.

"You'd be gaining weight if all you eat was meat. It's just not healthy, even for a track runner."

"Hey…"

"Ah! Our little invalid is back in action, Haruka."

"Well, what do ya know. Hey, little girl."

The world returned to focus, slowly, as she blinked. She was wrapped up in covers up to her soft chin, tightly snuggled up in a warm bundle. Standing over her were two women. One had short auburn hair, the bangs combed to the side of her formidable face with eyes as fearsome and grand as the thundery sky above. The other had long, wavy azure hair attached to a soft, gentle face that smiled down upon her with eyes as deep as the ocean. The two looked like adults to Ange, who felt a chill fill her body.

"Where am I?" Ange stammered, jumping up so swiftly that the covers were torn aside.

"You're in Tokyo," the blonde haired girl replied.

"What's your name, little girl?" the blue haired girl asked, inquisitively.

"Ange," Ange replied, nervously.

"Ange. Unusual name for this country," the blonde replied, shaking her head.

"Are you a foreigner?" the blue haired girl asked, "From another country?"

"No. I'm from Crystal Tokyo."

"Crystal Tokyo?" the blonde haired girl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What is Crystal Tokyo, Ange?" the blue haired girl asked.

So many questions. Who were these people, these strangers? Were they horrible villains, or comrades? Friend or foe? She couldn't trust anyone from this time. They could be foul villains that wanted to kill her. She couldn't allow them to know anything! Not a thing! "I can't tell you," Ange said, simply.

"What?" the blonde haired girl stammered, her eyebrows raised. The blue haired girl waved her off, however, and turned to Ange with warm, comforting eyes.

"You don't trust us, do you?"

"No."

"Because you don't know who we are?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well then, maybe we should introduce ourselves. My name's Michiru, and she's Haruka."

"Pleasure," Haruka replied, simply.

Ange glanced at Michiru, then Haruka, and then back again at Michiru. They felt like friendly individuals, kindred souls, and yet fear kept her from committing to them. She was anxious, anxious about whether she could trust these strangers, anxious about the nature of whatever opposition she had.

"When am I?"

"When are you what?" Haruka asked.

"No, when am I?" Ange asked again, struggling to figure out how to articulate her statement.

"What do you…oh! I get it now…" Haruka replied, realization dawning across her face.

"You're from the future, huh?" Michiru asked.

"Yes," Ange replied, nodding her head, softly.

"I see," Michiru chuckled, amused, "So you are something special, aren't you?"

"Can you prove you're from the future?" Haruka asked.

"Yes," Ange replied, nodding gently.

"I see," Michiru replied, a slight smile on her lips, "So do it."

"Alright," Ange replied, not entirely certain how to go about proving this.

"But if you can't, you need to do something for me," Michiru replied, a smile on her lips.

"Something for you?"

Michiru nodded.

Ange didn't like the sounds of that at all. Do something for this stranger? What could it be? Be beaten in the back? Be kidnapped? Well, assuming she wasn't already kidnapped, that was. Or was it something like having her pure heart ripped out. Oh, why did she come to this world in the first place? She should have just stayed home and been with mommy.

"I'm the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity," Ange replied.

"Well, that's not evi—wait a second," Haruka stammered, leaping to her feet, "Neo-Queen Serenity?"

"As in the Moon Princess?" Michiru asked, just as startled.

Ange nodded, amused that her mother's status caused such an uproar among her captures.

"Then that changes things entirely!" Haruka laughed, rising to her feet.

"I suppose that would make you a Princess, wouldn't it?" Michiru asked, heaving Ange's plump form against her chest, holding it tightly against her breast, "That warrants some special treatment now, doesn't it?"

"Uh, I guess perhaps…"

"Haruka! Get some of the candy out from wherever you've been hiding it from me," Michiru called.

"What?" Haruka stammered, glancing over her shoulder anxiously.

"Oh, you know you're hiding it. I saw some of it in the corner of the bathroom underneath a stack of books. Your books, I might add," Michiru said with a knowing smile.

"But I…those weren't mine!" Haruka stammered, "But we do have a bag of chocolate."

"I don't like sweets all too much," Ange replied, "Fruit is much better."

"Fruit? Well, we have plenty of that," Michiru replied.

"Thanks to you and all your health food stores," Haruka mumbled, grudgingly, as she withdrew a few oranges from a bowl. Turning to Ange, she asked, roughly, "You want me to cut it up for you into little pieces? I know that was how I liked it as a kid, so…"

Ange nodded.

"Ah. Gotcha," Haruka replied, taking a knife and swiftly slicing it into sections.

Michiru set Ange down at a table, Haruka handing her a plate filled with orange slices. There had to be at least two oranges all cut up in front of her. She wasn't sure whether to take a bite, or to refuse the food. Ange had seen Haruka cut it, so she knew it wasn't poisoned, but still, why would these strangers give her food? It seemed too good to be true. Nevertheless, she felt a well of pride in knowing that these individuals thought that she was special. Just like Chibiusa. She took one of the slices in her soft hand, and bit into it. She chewed, slowly, absorbing all of the delicious flavor in her mouth, before taking a second larger bite.

"Good, right?" Michiru asked, smiling, "Don't worry about finishing it, though. We'll finish whatever you can't."

"Sure," Haruka agreed, "I mean, oranges are better than that ramen crap."

"Why did you come to the past, anyway?" Michiru asked, inquisitively.

"My older sister, she had did something that everyone else liked."

"Jealous?" Haruka asked.

"Yes," Ange said with a shy nod as she bit into another orange.

"I see," Michiru replied in amusement, "What did she do?"

"She became a Sailor Sushi."

"Senshi?" stammered Haruka, rising to her feet yet again.

"Yes," Ange replied, afraid that maybe Haruka would forget about her in order to seek out Chibiusa instead, who had to be far more interesting than she was being a Senshi and all. She felt her fists tighten, feeling the juices of the orange roll over her fingers.

"Aw, you're holding it too tightly," Michiru pointed out.

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it," Haruka replied, calming down slightly, "You'll ruin the staining on the table."

"Let me wipe it up," Michiru replied, withdrawing a napkin from behind her, dabbing at the small pool on the surface of the table and at Ange's fingers. Once she had wiped away all of the liquid, she said, with a small smile, "What's your sister's name?"

"I'm not saying!" Ange snapped, anxiously.

"Fair enough," Haruka replied, sighing, "But we'll find out eventually, you needn't worry."

"Well, I think we can hold onto you until you find them, I might point out," Michiru said with a knowing smile.

"Alright," Ange replied, nodding shortly.

Ange ate the majority of the oranges on the plate, leaving a single orange slice left, which Michiru handed to Haruka, stating that she could use some healthy Vitamin C in her diet to balance out her healthy intake of vitamins and minerals. Haruka grudgingly ate the whole slice, save for the peal, in one huge bite. Ange watched as she swallowed it, tossing the peal into the garbage.

"Are you two married?" Ange asked, finally.

"Come again?" Michiru asked as Haruka gagged on the peal stuck in her esophagus.

"Well, you live together, right?"

"Yes, we're too young to be married," Haruka replied, "I mean, we're only teenagers!"

"Really? You looked older," Ange commented.

"Well, we look older, maybe, but we're really just in high school," replied Michiru, confidently.

"Hey, Haruka. Michiru," Ange asked, gently, "Can you help me?"

"How so?" Michiru asked, smiling.

"Can you help me find my sister?"

"Certainly," Michiru replied with a nod.

"I'm sure those other Senshi would know something about it," Haruka replied, amused.

"Other Senshi?" Ange asked, curiously.

"Yes. You don't know about the Sailor Senshi all that much, do you?" Michiru asked, amused.

"Not really."

"They're many running around here, most of them working in teams," Michiru replied, "They protect the world from the forces of evil. Some, however, have more responsibility and power than others."

"Some just can't handle the responsibilities," Haruka replied, darkly.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about that," Michiru replied, "Haruka sometimes just says really dopy things. Right, Haruka? Aren't you dopy?"

"Dopy?!" Haruka stammered, glaring at Michiru with frustrated eyes.

"Don't worry, Ange. Haruka just knows that she wouldn't do anything if you want anything to happen tonight when we go to sleep."

Haruka's body relaxed as she sighed. "You strike a hard bargain, Michiru."

"You know you can have my body all night tonight," Michiru cooed, seductively.

"Let's hope I don't devastate your beautiful face, Michiru," Haruka replied in a smooth tone.

"What are you two talking about?" Ange asked, confused.

"What? Oh, nothing at all!" Haruka stammered.

"It's an adult thing," Michiru replied, blushing deep scarlet, "You wouldn't understand."

An adult thing? That figured. Everything was an adult thing or off limits. Being a Sailor Senshi was off limits. Going out to train was off limits. Finding her sister easily was off limits if she couldn't just say her name to these strangers. She just wanted to go home, but more than that, an over consuming desire, she wanted these people to treat her special. Sure, they had given her food, but she wanted love, not just some stupid oranges. And, even more than that, the Sailor Senshi needed to come. No doubt Chibiusa was with them, not these ordinary people. Surely, SURELY, if something happened, like a monster, they'd come and save her! Surely!

"Wait, do you hear that?" Haruka replied, her body still and tense.

"Yes," Michiru replied, gripping Ange by the wrist.

"Get down!"

Haruka shoved Michiru and Ange against the floor, flattening them against the carpet, as the glass window leading to the outside exploded inward! Shards of glass sprinkled their backsides as a dark mass emerged from the shattered window, glaring down directly at Ange.

"Oh my…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

Standing before the two women and Ange was a fiend beyond comprehension. Massive tendrils encircled its torso, writhing viciously with fangs attached to the sides. Attached to its back were two massive wing-like structures without any skin or membrane to speak of, only bone and muscle tissue. Its head was elongated, tendrils for hair, fangs sprouting from the exterior of its canine snout. Its eyes were red with hunger.

"What the hell?" Haruka stammered.

"A daemon?" Michiru suggested, throwing an arm in front of Ange to hold her back.

Ange felt her knees buckle in fear as she stared at the fearsome, growling fiend. This monster, what was he here for? Was he here for Ange? That prospect both exhilarated and horrified her. On one hand, the fiend was here to kill her, to munch down on her bones and kill her. This could very well be the last day she had left on this beautiful Earth. On the other hand, however, this could be a sign of just how special Ange truly was. After all, no monster would attack someone who was ordinary, right?

"This isn't a daemon," Haruka snarled, "It has a different sort of feel to it."

"What should we do?" Michiru asked, inching away slowly as the monster lunged closer, licking its jaw line with its numerous, forked tongues.

"Take Ange and hide her in a closet or something!" Haruka snarled, clenching her fists, dangerously.

Michiru grabbed Ange around the soft middle, and dashed off into a bedroom. The monster lunged toward them, only for Haruka to grab it by its tail, using the beast's momentum to throw it out the window. Michiru closed the door to the bedroom in Ange's face, leaving her sealed within. Ange felt her heart slam against her chest as she tried to push the door open, only to realize that Michiru had forgotten to actually lock the door.

With only a small gap of space between the door and its frame, Ange watched as the two women were consumed in a beautiful array of light, only for their clothing to dematerialize into nothingness, their naked bodies clothed by new garments of radiant colors. The garments that her sister had warn when she had transformed into one of the Sailor Senshi.

So they too were Senshi? Chosen warriors? Special warriors? They were special, like her sister, unlike her. Perhaps they could teach her how to ascend to the form of Sailor Senshi, if only it were possible.

Ange watched in horror as the fiend pulled itself into the room through the shattered window once again, its many tongues licking the air vehemently. She watched as Haruka lunged forward, her fist drawn. She sent a right hook straight across the fiend's face, but this did precious little. The fiend grabbed Haruka by the throat, throwing her against the floor, its dog-like snout inches away from crunching off her face.

"Deep Submerge!!!" Michiru shouted, and, with a wave of her hand, a massive orb of glowing aquamarine light surged from her open palm, and slammed against the fiend. There was a tidal wave of water that exploded from the sphere, separating the beast from Haruka. Haruka caught herself, balancing herself with her arms outstretched.

"Thanks, Neptune," Haruka replied.

Neptune? Was that Michiru's name as a Senshi? Ange watched as Michiru, now Neptune, turned to Haruka and said, in a harsh whisper, "Uranus, try knocking it out of the window."

"No problem," Uranus replied, extending her hand to the sky as she shouted, "World Shaking!" She swung her hand toward the ground, an explosion of light filling the air. Ange could see, from her voyeuristic point of view, a new orb of energy, subdued in color, race toward the fiend, blasting straight into its face. It was knocked backward, but not far enough to fly out the window.

"Damn!" Uranus snarled as she dashed forward, her elbow drawn backward. She tackled the fiend, smashing it backward, through the shattered windowsill, and out into the air.

"Uranus!" Neptune shrieked, dashing after her, lunging forward to grab her partner's ankle. Her fingers curled around Uranus's calve as her and the fiend hurdled over the ledge!

Ange wanted to dash out there, to help Neptune pull Uranus back into the room, but she was paralyzed with raw terror. Her knees were shivering so terribly that it almost looked as though she were having an epileptic fit. Her breathing was so erratic that it looked as though she were hyperventilating. Her skin was so white that it looked as though her entire body had been drained of all of its blood.

She finally managed to open the door to save Neptune when she slipped beyond the threshold of the window, falling down into the abyss below. Ange sprinted toward the windowsill, hoping she could still catch her, only to find that the fight was still continuing in midair!

Uranus had sent a ball of energy, that World Shaking attack, straight into the fiend's body, knocking him away and propelling her up in the air. Neptune raised her hand into the air, shouting, "Deep Submerge!" The attack slammed against the fiend's shoulder, knocking him toward the ground in what seemed to be a steep nosedive. Ange felt her heart beat against her chest as excitement consumed her.

The fiend's tendrils unraveled suddenly from around his waist, four of them puncturing the glass and concrete sides of the building. To Ange's horror, she watched as the tendrils acted like spider legs, rapidly sprinting up the side of the building, a fearsome look in the fiend's eye.

Uranus grabbed onto a flag pool on the side of the building, spinning around on it as Neptune held onto a ledge at a nearby window. As the fiend grew closer, Uranus spun around the pool, slamming the tip of her boot against the fiend's elongated jaw, sending him flying higher in the air. Neptune released the ledge, and stomped against the fiend's throat. She kicked off of its flesh, flying back to the ledge, where she grabbed on for dear life.

The fiend twirled through the air, his gaze landing directly on Uranus. Uranus drew back her hand for the final blow, only for the fiend's tendrils to unravel all at once, wrapping themselves around Uranus's appendages and waist, holding it closer. As it spun through the air, Ange could see a fearsome set of jaws on the beast's chest, several rows of vampiric fangs ready to bleed Uranus to death. A long, grotesque tongue lapped the side of Uranus's cheek as she struggled to send the finishing blow to the fiend. After all, the orb of amber light had already materialized in her open palm.

Neptune screamed Uranus's name, extending her hand into the air, shouting, at the top of her lungs, "Deep Submerge!" The orb of blue light soared through the air, slamming straight into the side of the fiend's skull. The fiend spun in the air, the grip of the tendrils slackening enough for Uranus to force the orb of light straight into the fiend's open mouth on its chest!

There was a flash of light. Ange shielded her eyes as the impact radiated through the air, the epicenter of the explosion too luminous to see with her bare eyes alone. Rather, she watched as Uranus flew through the air, flying straight toward Neptune. Ange watched, in horror, as the two bodies slammed into one another. Neptune's grip on the ledge was broken as the two tumbled down, down to the street below at the same pace as the fiend, which Ange could see had been split in two across the middle.

Uranus extended her hand in the air, shouting, "World Shaking!" The blast radiated from her hand, propelling the duo off through a window on the side of a nearby building as the attack collided with the side of the massive complex that housed the two girl's home! The collision shook the building wildly. So wildly, in fact, that Ange lost her footing, and flipped out of the windowsill herself!

Ange felt the air beneath her, gravity taking her slowly down to Earth. Her stomach was twisted around herself. She was falling. She was tumbling down into oblivion. Twenty stories between her and death, and she knew every second she was doomed. With every second her body flew down to the ground faster, and faster. If only she had powers, only if she could save herself, she could avoid this fate. Tears streamed from her eyes as the world slowly grew black.

However, her fall was stopped as several tendrils wrapped themselves around her. She glanced out of the corner of her eye as she saw the upper half of that fiend, clinging to dear life on a ledge of the building, four stories above the ground. Its fearsome eyes glared straight into Ange's, its numerous tongues stretching out to lap Ange's tears from her eyes, hunger filling its aura.

Ange didn't know what to think. On one hand, she was alive. She was grateful toward the fiend for that much. On the other hand, she was now inches away from death or worse yet again, now ensnared by that grotesque fiend, that monster that had nearly killed Uranus and Neptune!

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Ange felt gravity pull on her yet again as she watched the tendrils binding her severed as a disk of sheer light danced before her eyes! The fiend screamed inhuman cries of agony as it reached out for Ange with its spare hand. Grabbing her by the waist. The fiend's eyes were desperate, fearful, no doubt for its own life as much as trying to accomplish its foul mission. However, just as the fiend was about to pull both itself and Ange onto the ledge, the disk of light in the air danced backward, severing the fiend's arm that bound it to the building's ledge.

Ange felt gravity tug her down as the fiend fell down toward the Earth. Ange could feel the beast spinning through the air, holding Ange tightly against its chest. The two spun through the air like a screw as the beast shifted its weight so that Ange was at the bottom of the two of them, so that, if they hit the floor, Ange would die first! However, before Ange knew just what had happened, a new pair of arms scooped her out of the fiend's grasp, leaving the monster to fall to the ground head first, to die alone.

Ange looked up into the soft eyes of her savior, her messiah. Before the lights in her eyes disappeared, before darkness consumed her yet again, she could only utter a single word.

"Mommy…?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

For the second time since she first set step in this ancient era a millennia before her first gasps of air, Ange Tsukino opened her eyes to find two figures staring down at her. Unlike before, with Haruka and Michiru, their speaking hadn't awoken her. Rather, the two individuals had been as quiet as the grave, simply staring into her soft eyes as she slowly drifted into the realm of conscious thought. She recognized the two individuals staring down at her with a jolt that surged throughout her entire body, driving her into the realm of consciousness.

"Mommy!?"

Sure enough, her mother, albeit several centuries younger but still just as youthful as ever, was sitting there, stumbling backward in shock as she threw out her arms, as though to block whatever horrible spell Ange had to offer. It was only after her mother lowered her guard that Ange noticed the second individual staring at her, this one sending slightly more concern intro her heart.

"Chibiusa…?"

"Ange, just why are you here?" Chibiusa asked, getting straight to the point.

Ange's mother, now apparently comfortable with the idea that two of her daughters from the future were now conversing with one another, leaned in closer to ask, curiously, "Just how many children do I have with Mamoru, anyway?"

Mamoru? Ange recognized that as Neo-Prince Endymion, her father, the man who had helped bring her into this world. Feeling a pang of regret upon hearing his name, Ange glanced up at Chibiusa, not meeting her eyes entirely, as she said, praying she could buy time to think up some excuse, "What do you mean?"

"I thought mama wanted you to stay behind in the future."

Oh, their mother had wanted her to remain behind, to remain weak and defenseless, no doubt! Sure, that monster had been frightening, but, as she started to rationalize, her mommy had saved her! Surely, even in the past, her mother would make sure no harm befell her, that no harm could possibly reach her, that death's icy grasp could not ensnare her.

But a lie to convince Chibiusa took precedence over her fearlessness.

"Mommy wanted me to come back to warn you about those monsters."

"Another monster? Geez, they can't just cut us some slack once and a while?" her mother moaned, slumping over onto her back, exasperated.

On the other hand, Chibiusa didn't seem quite as convinced. Did she see through that statement? Did she, somehow, see that was untrue? Ange maintained a straight face, as serious as a face can possibly be, as grim and cryptic as one can make a face, before nodding seriously, as though to confirm what her mother had just said to be completely accurate. Regardless, Chibiusa stared at Ange, an eyebrow raised over the entire matter. What did Ange need to do to convince her she was correct? Did she need to produce some sort of fake fabricated artifact from the future that only her mother could have given her, like the letter their mother had given Chibiusa?

Nevertheless, Chibiusa didn't question the story, and both of them seemed to accept it. Ange was grateful for that. Now that she had fooled them, they seemed to accept her. They asked Ange for details about the monsters, at which Ange, honestly unable to answer, simply stated that she had no idea just what they were, where they possibly could have come from, or any sort of information. She also honestly said that Neo-Princess Serenity didn't know anything about them either, mostly because her mother didn't even know Ange had left. Although that last reason was something Ange left out of her explanation.

Needless to say, Chibiusa altered the memories of those around her to fill in the unnecessary introductions and relationships that normally would have taken years to develop. Her mother's, whom Chibiusa informed Ange should be refered to as Usagi, family now saw Ange as Chibiusa's sister, as she truly was, and that they were taking care of her for the time being, as they were. However, this false memory did not extend all the way to the other Senshi. Upon inviting several of the younger Senshi, all of whom Ange thought looked significantly younger than the Princesses she had grown up with, they expressed greatly different emotions.

"I don't pick up anything dark about her," Mercury, or as Chibiusa explaimed, Ami, stated, prodding her with a long, metallic rod that was linked up to a small, compact computer.

After consulting several magical methods of spell work, Mars, aka Rei, came to the same conclusion. "She's really your daughter, Usagi. Damn, you must really have a good time with Mamoru in the future."

"Shut up!" Usagi stammered, sticking her tongue out at Rei. Rei replied with a similar reaction. Ange couldn't help but giggle. They were so stupid looking, and yet she knew that both her mother and Mars were identical in the future, having not changed at all.

"Maybe these monsters are related in some way to the Daimons," Jupiter, otherwise known as Matoko, contemplated, rubbing her chin with her index finger.

"No, they seemed different," Usagi said.

"Well, maybe," Venus, or Minako, said, a small frown on her otherwise gorgeous face, "Artemis took one of the samples you found at the scene, Usagi. He said it was completely foreign to this world."

"Meaning?" Usagi asked.

"Well, he said the only place it could've came from was from the future," Minako said, seriously.

"Well, of course it's from the future! Otherwise, why the hell would Ange come in the first place?" Rei asked, slapping her face with her palm.

"Well, at least we eliminated the possibility that the Death Busters are using time travel, like the Black Moon Clan," Ami said, "So maybe it's a threat that's unique to the future."

"Like what?"

"Maybe it's an alien!" Minako said.

"You mean like Ali and En?" Matoko asked.

"No, like freaky green people with really scary powers!" Minako threw her arms out as though to emphasize her point.

"Uh, Minako, hate to burst your bubble, but ALI AND EN WERE FREAKY GREEN PEOPLE WITH SCARY POWERS!!!" Rei shouted, knocking Minako over with simply the sound of her screams.

"Say, Mina?" Ami asked.

"Yeah?" Minako pushed herself up, glancing over at Ami.

"Can I have the sample you guys found?" she asked.

"What, like right now?"

"That would be helpful."

Minako blushed as she stammered, "Well, Artemis has it. I'll give it to you later, okay?"

"Alright. Ange, can I borrow some of your hair?"

Ange glanced over at her, raising her eyebrow. A strand of hair? Just what did she wish to accomplish by doing that? Taking her hair, as though that somehow would solve the problem? She didn't know what to do, but, before she could resist, Ami had plucked a single strand of orange hair from her head. Before Ange could even feel the shock of pain, Ami had placed the hair in a plastic bag.

"What are you planning on doing with that?" Matoko asked, "Cloning her or something?"

"Not at all," Ami said, with a small smile, "I just have a theory is all."

"And that involves stealing my hair?" Ange stammered, rubbing her scalp gingerly.

"Yes, actually."

Eventually, the girls left Ange to herself, along with Chibiusa and Usagi. As Usagi complained about how the others had eaten all the snacks in the house, leaving little for her, Ange and Chibiusa's eyes locked. Ange could sense the distrust in her sister's eyes, the lack of understanding. What? Did she not believe she, Ange, was capable of handling something on her own? Did she doubt Ange's abilities, her confidence, her standards? Did she not believe that her mother would send her? Well, naturally, her mother hadn't sent her, so that sense wasn't entirely inaccurate, but it certainly was irksome! If Chibiusa knew something about the true reasons for Ange's arrival in this time, the results could be devastating for her. At the very least, Chibiusa would take Ange back home to her mother, force her to endure scolding. Scolding from a woman who condescended to her, treating her like a child! Well, maybe she was young, but she was still important!

The day dragged on, slowly, as minutes transmuted into hours. Ange was taking a cookie from a jar that Usagi had somehow overlooked in her gluttonous hourly binge when she heard a sound coming from behind a doorway. She chewed on her cookie, ignoring the sound, marking it off as the television. However, it became apparent after eating the final crumb that the TV was silent. Ange followed the sound into a room not far off from the kitchen, to where two figures stood in the windowsill.

Chibiusa and Usagi.

Ange pressed herself against the wall, making sure the two of them didn't even notice a hair on her body. Why were they meeting like this, with hushed voiced out of Ange's former earshot. It took a few moments to determine the words emerging from their mouths, but once that fateful moment arrived, Ange could hear every single syllable.

"It just doesn't make sense," Chibiusa whispered, harshly, "Mama wouldn't send Ange here. She's too young."

Young? She dare condescend to her sister like that?

"Yeah, she looks like a baby."

Baby?

"I don't know how she could of survived the trip here alone. She must have been so afraid. Mama would never send her if she knew it would frighten her."

Chibiusa underestimated Ange! Sure, she was afraid for a little bit, but that was nothing. Nothing! She could endure a little fear. She was mature, older than she looked! Chibiusa should surely understand that, being older than she looked herself. Why, Chibiusa looked no older than Ange did! Sure, she was a little bigger, and sure, she had the powers of a Sailor Senshi, but why would that be such a big deal? Ange was just as important! No, not just as important, but rather more important! She didn't need powers like Chibiusa's to be special! She probably had great wells of power inside of her, power even Chibiusa wouldn't understand! Surely!

Surely!

There was a loud bang that filled the air. Ange stumbled away from the wall as the two by the windowsill leapt off of the wall, staring around wildly. Were they frightened? Ange could relate. She was trembling wildly, tears in her eyes. She wanted to remain close to the ground, as though she could steady herself that way. Tears flowing down her cheeks, she glanced up to see a horrific fiend approaching her.

This monster was huge, with a large beak that resembled that of a parrot. Feather-like structures jutted out of its skin, knives emerging from the flute of the feather. It had long wings that emerged from the fiend's shoulder blades, stretching out into the air. The tips of its wingspan skidded across the walls of the room, surprisingly not chipping the paint. Its scarlet eyes glared at Ange as it extended a lizard-like arm to grab her.

"Moon Cosmic Power, Make-Up!"

Ange glanced over her shoulder to see her mother's clothing dematerialize, only to be replaced with beautiful garments she had never seen Neo-Princess Serenity garb. The transformation ended as soon as it had begun, her beautiful, angelic mother posing a second before turning on the fiend, pointing at it fiercely. "Stop right there! Those who dare trample—"

Whatever happened to those who trampled whatever was never heard, as, with a sharp caw from the fiend's beak, Usagi's voice was drowned out, along with her body being thrown against the sofa as a result of the high-piched screech. Ange heard precious little sound. Was the sonic wave concentrated? Whatever the case, Ange watched as her mother writhed on the floor, unable to move, as static electricity emanated around her body, like a cage.

Chibiusa turned toward the fiend, a glint in her eye. Ange watched as Chibiusa extended a single object into the air, shouting, "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" Ange watched as her elder sister's clothing dissolved into a brilliant nova of light, a dress much like the one her tormented mother on the floor was wearing, only significantly pinker. The same dress that had set Ange off on this ridiculous trip in the first place! As the light faded away, Ange found it ironic that the very thing that had mortified her was now about to save her life.

"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"

Chibiusa extended a small wand from thin air as several heart shaped disks radiated out of the tip. The disks were tiny, and, upon hitting the massive fiend, did little more than make the monster cough, as though the disks, upon hitting his chest, were clearing up some sort of congestion he had had previously.

Ange knew, in that instant, that she was doomed.

The monster, with his free hand, clasped Chibiusa around the throat, forcing her into the floor, squeezing tightly as the poor girl's face turned blue. Ange watched in horror as her sister ran out of air to breathe. Sure, she may hate the power that radiated through her sister, but she couldn't simply stand-by and watch the fiend torment her like this! Ange grabbed the fiend by the wrist, attempting vainly to pull it away. Rather than succeed, Ange was rather pulled away by the fiend's other hand, a grasp that held Ange helplessly in the air as the fiend cawed loudly, relinquishing its grip on Usagi for a moment. Ange hoped her mother would save her, now free from the attack, but alas, her mother, as Ange soon realized, was unconscious on the floor, worthless to everyone.

Just what was so worth it about these Sailor Sushi—er, Senshi—anyway? They were powerless! They couldn't even handle a single monster like this! Ange felt tears falling from her eyes. She didn't want this. She wanted life, she wanted to endure, to live on! She wanted someone, anyone, to save her! And, perhaps most of all, she wanted this all to stop.

She heard a crack like a whip from behind. Ange had no time to glance behind her as a massive purple orb of light slammed directly into the fiend's side. He was blown aside, releasing both Chibiusa and Ange as he was thrown into the wall. Ange was shocked, once again, how the paint did not chip on the wall as he slumped down, bleeding from the shoulder but otherwise unharmed. Ange had time to see a second blast fly from the same direction, slamming directly into the fiend's skull. It exploded on contact, sending blood flying off onto the walls. The monster twitched weakly before tumbling to the ground, dead.

"That was easier than I had expected."

Ange glanced over her shoulder to see a small figure walking toward her. She could scarcely believe it. This figure, not a Senshi from this time, but from her own time in the future. Someone she had known for years, since childhood. A red haired figure she had never known had this sort of power lying inside of her. As the long mane of scarlet drew nearer, all Ange could utter was this figure's name.

"Ayumii?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6**

"So who is this? Another one of my daughters from the future?"

Ayumii sat down, cross legged, her eyebrow raised incredulously as she brushed aside her scarlet bangs from her violet eyes. A petite girl who was perhaps only a couple years younger than Usagi, Ayumii frowned as she asked, with a hint of disbelief, "Do I look like your daughter?" Her voice was something of a monotone, and lacked either the passion or the confusion her face expressed.

"Well, er—"

"Ayumii, why are you a Senshi?" Ange didn't believe it! Another one of her friends, another person she trusted from her era, was one of these Sailor Sushi people? It wasn't fair! First Chibiusa, now Ayumii? Hell, Ayumii wasn't even related to the Princesses at all! She wasn't her mother's daughter, or any of the other's daughters. She wasn't even a cousin of theirs. Ayumii was the daughter of one of her mother's attendants, not of royal blood at all. Why, then, was Ayumii here, before them, just changed out of her Senshi clothing?

"That's unimportant," Ayumii replied, simply.

"What are you the Senshi of, exactly?" Usagi asked, still confused.

"Also unimportant."

"You don't talk much, to you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Talk is cheap, especially when you're talking to an idiot." At that, Usagi rose to her feet, her face beet red, as she clenched her fists, indignantly. Had it not been for Chibiusa tugging at the hem of her skirt, Usagi probably would have tried to hit Ayumii. Ange wondered, in the back of her head, whether or not Ayumii's newfound power would have been able to counter her attack. Ange believed so.

And yet none of this explained anything. Chibiusa clearly felt the same way, judging from the comment that followed Usagi's momentary outburst. "Ayumii, why are you a Senshi? I mean, you weren't even related to any of the Princesses?"

Ayumii glanced at her toes for a moment, her expression betraying anxiety with a thick spread of blush. After a moment of silence, Ayumii rose to her feet, and walked out of the living room, and into the kitchen. Ange glanced through the doorway as she watched Ayumii take a banana, and devour it, anxiously.

"Is she a nervous eater or something?" Usagi asked.

"Are you one to talk?" Chibiusa muttered.

Ange stared at Ayumii's back, her exposed calves, as she tossed the peal away. Turning back to Usagi and the others, she said, gently, "None of your concern." With that, she walked up the stairs, and slammed one of the doors upstairs, as though she were returning to her room.

"I think that's my room," Chibiusa observed.

At that moment, the phone rang. Usagi dashed to the phone, both Chibiusa and Ange staring after her as she picked up the receiver, and answered. "Hello?…Oh! Ami! Great timing, I—…Oh, you found something out too? Listen, this girl just appeared out of nowhere…Another Senshi from the future…Yeah, I know…You found out something?…That important, huh?…Meet by my place, okay? That way this girl, Ayumii, can't leave…Ten minutes? Cool…Bye-bye!" She hung the phone up, a frown on her lips.

"Ami?" Chibiusa asked.

"Yeah, she found out something about the demons she thinks is very important, so she's calling the others and telling them to come over to our house," Usagi explained, "Hey, Ange?"

"Yeah?" Ange glanced up, interested about whatever it was that Usagi had to say.

"Can you get Ayumii ready to explain why she's here to everyone else?" Usagi asked, "I would, but I don't know Ayumii well enough."

"Why can't Chibiusa get it?" After all, everyone else seemed to think Chibiusa was more worthwhile than she was. Hell, those two had even wanted to get rid of her! She was sure of it! After all, that was surely the next step after they contemplated why she had traveled through the Time Plane, right? Surely! Surely!

"I'm getting snacks!" Chibiusa declared, a slight smile on her lips.

Beaten by that alibi, Ange ascended the stairway. However, halfway up the stairs, she glanced down at Chibiusa, whose smile had fallen from her face, replaced with a contemplating frown. Ange ignored the change in her elder sister's expression, and, rather, approached the only door closed on the top floor of her mother's house. There, sitting on a bed cross-legged, was Ayumii, her eyes narrowed at Ange as she entered the room. Upon Ange's entrance, Ayumii asked a single question: "Why did you leave?"

"What?"

Ayumii pushed herself off of Chibiusa's bed, and approached Ange, her expression intense, her voice flat and apathetic as usual. "You left without telling anyone. Why?"

So that was the reason Ayumii was here? To reprimand her? To punish her for leaving the Silver Millennium? Crystal Tokyo? Ange inched backward, hoping to reach the door before Ayumii could grab her, but, before she could escape through the threshold, Ayumii grabbed Ange by the wrist, and pulled her into her arms, restraining her so she remained still.

"Your mother was terrified. Do you realize that? Do you know how much she cried for you?"

"Let me go!"

"Do you understand the kind of chaos you left behind when you left?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about!"

"You don't understand?"

"No! Just let me go!"

Ayumii released Ange, allowing her to stumble backward, terrified tears in her eyes. Ayumii glanced down at the girl, her expression softening as she bent down on a single knee. She brushed aside Ange's tear as she said, gently, "Don't cry, little girl." She extended her arms, pulling Ange against her bosom, as though to comfort her. All it did to Ange was result in her feeling more trapped, more closed in, claustrophobic.

"When you left, Ange, a monster appeared, and captured me," Ayumii said after a moment.

"What?"

"Yes," Ayumii said, releasing Ange. Ange, despite having the ability to leave, remained quite still, allowing Ayumii to speak, curious to hear what Ayumii had to say. "He brought me to the old mountain Vesuvius."

"You mean the volcano in Crystal Italy?" Ange asked, raising an eyebrow, surprised.

"The same," Ayumii said, her voice still blank, "He brought me here, but was met by your mother, Neo-Princess Serenity. She tried to rationalize with the monster, but he refused to hear reason. Since most of your mother's power was drained after she became a Princess, she was powerless to defend herself. It didn't take long for the monster to try to have his way with me."

"What do you mean?" Ange asked, confused.

"When you're an adult, you'll understand," Ayumii said, frowning, "But rest assured, the adult stuff didn't happen quite as he planned. I managed to roll alongside the volcano, and the two of us fell into its depths. My body was reduced to ash along with his. To tell you the truth, the monster truly wasn't that strong."

Ange's eyes widened. Fell into a volcano? Reduced to ash? Ange may not be an adult, so maybe she didn't understand whatever it was that Ayumii had said the monster tried to do, but the fact of the matter was that her body being reduced to ash made all too much sense to Ange! If Ayumii was standing here before her now, that meant that Ayumii was either a ghost or had been resurrected.

Ayumii answered Ange's question after a moment's pause. "Your mother brought me back to life with the power of the Silver Crystal. However, my body was different than before. I had to be composed out of the molten rock that had destroyed my body, along with the monster that had killed me. Somehow, that monster's power transferred into me, and I became one of these Senshi."

She had fused with a monster? So Ayumii was really just one of those monster things that Ange had been fighting all this time? Was Ayumii a monster just the same as those other fiends? Or, perhaps, was Ayumii's power as a Senshi, Chibiusa's power as a Senshi, or perhaps all the Senshi's power, originated from those monsters? Was that all she needed to do, fuse with a monster, to become a Senshi?

Ayumii, however, wasn't finished. "We searched for you, afraid that the Monster had eaten you. Do you realize how long we searched, Ange? Do you? Your mother asked Pluto if she knew where to find you in the passage of time. However, Pluto told her that you had permission from your mother to go down the time plane. She sent me out after you, to find you. She was sure where you had gone. And thus, here I am. We're going home."

Ange's eyes widened as she backed away, holding her hands over her head. No! She didn't want to go home! She had only just gotten to this time plane, only just to this era. She couldn't just leave when things were getting so interesting. It wasn't fair! It was wrong and criminal! She damned Ayumii, damned her mother, damned everything, as Ayumii grabbed her by the wrist, tugging her to her feet, aggressively.

"Come with me to the Silver Millennium, Ange," Ayumii said, "It's easier if you just don't fight back."

"But don't you want to test your power, Ayumii?" Ange asked, struggling to find some sort of loophole to escape her capture.

"Test?"

"These monsters. They originate from the future, and are coming back in time to attack me. Don't you want to know why?"

"Perhaps."

"Maybe, just maybe, the secret lies in the past. Maybe there's something in the past that isn't in the future! If you solved it, then you'd be a hero!"

"I really don't care about that."

"But don't you just want to—"

The door down below them slammed. Voices filled the house, familiar voices. Ayumii released Ange, who darted down the stairs, and into Rei's arms. Rei stumbled backward against the wall, barely able to hold herself still, as Ange clung fearfully to her. Rei's confused expression was justified, yes, but, as Ayumii walked down the stairs, gently, Rei's anxiety disappeared.

"Is this the girl, Usagi?" Makoto asked, gesturing toward Ayumii as she reached out for Ange.

"Don't touch my sister!" Chibiusa stammered.

"I have orders from Neo-Queen Serenity to return her to the Silver Millenium," Ayumii stated as she groped for Ange, Rei pulling her out of her reach, "She's ran away from home."

"Ran away?" Usagi stammered.

"I knew mama wouldn't let you come here on your own!" Chibiusa stammered.

"Don't let her go!" Everyone turned toward Ami, who, after realizing she had shouted like that, blushed deep scarlet, tucking herself inward. Ange focused her attention on Ami, both confused and intrigued by the ocean haired Senshi's outburst. Why was she, one of the Senshi, an adult, helping her? She wasn't unhappy about the aid, but nevertheless, it did confuse her. She had found out something important about the hair, so maybe that was it.

"Why?" Ayumii asked, apathetic.

"Yeah, why exactly?" Rei asked.

Ami cleared her throat as she said, her expression serious, "It's the hair and that sample from that monster. I examined them both with my computer. The simple fact of the matter is that the DNA of both are virtually identical."

Identical?

"Wait, what does that mean?" Usagi asked, confused.

"It means that the monster is either a clone of Ange, or Ange created it."

Created it? Ange didn't understand. When could she have created a monster? She would have known. She would have been there. She imagined the fiends sprouting from her back, or her vomiting out the fiends, or the fiends budding like flowers from her fingertips. Surely if she created the monsters, then surely, surely, she had power that everyone else didn't! Even those Sailor Sushi or whatever the Hell they were couldn't match the power that lurked within her.

"We have to take her back to the Silver Millennium now more than ever," Ayumii said, "Maybe the Neo-Princess—"

"No."

Everyone turned to Ange, who had released Rei. A smile had curled around her lips as she left Rei, a grin on her lips that looked more fitting for a jaded demon than a little six-year-old girl. Ayumii extended her hand, attempting to seize her, but, rather, Ayumii's body froze as her eyes widened, veins sprouting against her skin, as she fell to the floor, knotted in pain. Ange hadn't even willed her to be in pain, but clearly Ayumii was making this more of a struggle than it had to be. All Ange wanted was for Ayumii to be her friend forever, her friend alone. Not against her. After all, why did they need to fight?

More than that, though, she wanted to understand her power. She needed someone to help her.

The room grew cold as a black aura exploded in the air behind her like a nova. The others threw their arms over their eyes as gusts of wind tore through the air, throwing furniture into the air. A black form materialized in the air, but soon details emerged from his dark form. Red locks of hair sprouted from his head, his expressions angelic and beautiful, muscles pulsating from his body as he descended to the floor, his expression filled with insidious joy.

"Rubeus?" Usagi stammered, her eyes wide with fear.

This newcomer, Rubeus, laughed in amusement as she curled his arms around Ange from her back, scooping the little girl in his arms. Ange didn't protest. She felt no malice toward her coming from this man, but rather malice toward those adults who had underestimated her, who had threatened to send her back to the Future, who had underestimated her, undermined her plans, and all that. She hated them. If only Ayumii, now writhing on the floor, saw the same way.

She watched the people before her transform, amused by their display of power. After all, compared to this power she had, their Sushi powers were nothing! She watched as Rei, Sailor Mars, locked her hands in a prayer position, only to shout, "Flaming Mandela!" The flames flew at Rubeus, but never touched his skin. Rather, a series of pink blasts met the flames in midair, keeping them from ever touching anyone.

Ayumii was standing erect, her eyes blank and emotionless, as she threw her arms out before Ange and Rubeus, the veins running up her forehead pulsating dangerously. Ange smiled in satisfaction as the others before her stammered in shock. Now Ange had two of her allies on her side. As Ayumii joined Ange, the world grew dark as a column of darkness soared into the air, consuming them, tearing the home to shreds, and sending the Senshi flying into the air, darkness consuming all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

Ange's eyes slowly fluttered open. She slowly rose to her feet, rubbing the drowsy fingers of slumber away long enough to stare at the dark ceiling high above her, a ceiling that resembled the interior of some foul beast's ribcage. Ange could even see muscle tendons wrapped around the individual ribs. The ground at her feet resembled a pulsating, sickly organ, breathing in and out like some sort of diseased pair of lungs. And yet none of that seemed to bother her at all. Rather, she felt at home, as though this interior, the heart of the beast, was exactly where she belonged.

"Ange?"

Ange glanced over her shoulder. Standing with his arms folded, his crimson locks over his broad shoulders, was Rubeus, a confident, formidable expression on his face. Her guardian, her creation, standing there before her. The idea that she created Rubeus from her mind was a rather empowering thought all on its own, but to think that Rubeus was someone that her mother had confronted in the past, judging from Usagi and the other's shocked expressions before, made it slightly confusing that, as opposed to some grotesque fiend, she'd create him.

Rubeus approached Ange and, in an act no doubt of dignity, bowed on one knee before the small child. "Thank you for bringing me back, m'lady."

"It's no problem," Ange said, empowered by the title Rubeus had bestowed upon her.

Glancing up, Rubeus said, a confident grin on his lips, "You probably have no idea why I'm here, do you?"

"No, I honestly don't know how I created—"

"Created? No, I've always existed inside of you, Ange. Ever since your mother first gave birth to you."

"Really?"

"Yes, you see, upon your birth, a renegade from the Black Moon Clan attacked Crystal Tokyo. Your mother tried to defend you from the renegade, but, before being decimated, the assailant managed to insert some of his essence into you, thus granting you hidden, deep seated power inside of your heart."

So Ange had had power since her birth? Before Chibiusa? Her elder sister had only received that great power so short a time ago, while she had great strength lurking inside her for years! She had beaten her sister to the punch this time, especially since she unlocked it at such a young age. Ange smiled greedily as she asked Rubeus a question that had been on her mind for awhile, "How much power do I have?"

Rubeus grinned. "Your power is vast, if you only know how to use it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, the vast majority of your power lies in creating spawns to do your bidding. You yourself don't have any super strength, but your creations, the manifestations of your desires, are as powerful as you want them to be."

"I don't understand."

"You see, those previous experiments, that's what we'll call them, existed for the sole purpose of capturing you. After all, you longed for nothing more than to be noticed, to be special. By being captured, that would make you somehow important, the thing that everyone focused on, sought to save. Ironic how you feared exactly what you wanted, right?"

So she had never really been in danger from those fiends? Those fiends only wanted to help her realize her desires? Why hadn't she seen that before? Why hadn't she seen how everyone seemed to notice her when those monsters were attacking her? Everyone was worried about her. Well, everyone should worry about her when monsters were trying to kidnap her. Ange grinned in amusement as she saw the genius in her own creations.

"As for Ayumii, you sent her there so that you could have a friend to help you. You sent your monster out into the past, captured Ayumii, the monster all the time knowing that he was to merge with Ayumii's body. That was supposed to occur when he raped her, but your mother caused a more literal fusion to occur. Because Ayumii's body is in turn a part of your will, you can control her however you please. But I'm sure you figured that out before."

"I did. Where is Ayumii?"

Rubeus smiled again. "Would you like to see her?"

"Yes."

Rubeus extended his hand into the air. With a short little wave, a huge glass orb materialized in the air. Ange stared into it as it crashed into the soft floor, a thick fog rising from the epicenter of the orb. At first, all Ange saw was swirling gas, but soon an image, as though out of a television set, made itself clear. Ange's eyes widened as she saw Ayumii's body materialize before her, her temple pulsating dangerously, as she stared down at the Sailor Senshi: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Moon. Even Chibiusa, Sailor Chibi-Moon, was standing there, drifting in the air as a gentle pale aura vibrated around them. Ayumii herself was surrounded by a crimson aura, sparks of gold flying off her skin.

"Ayumii!" Sailor Moon shouted, her eyes desperate, "Please, just let us pass."

Ayumii stared down at them, a cold, vacant expression in her eyes. It was clear from that cold glare that there would be no relent, no mercy, taken upon those who tried to pass, who even wanted to pass, and access whatever it was she was guarding. Ange suspected Ayumii was guarding the gateway to wherever it was that Ange and Rubeus were right now, the heart of the beast.

"Ayumii, you're under some sort of mind control, get—" Jupiter began, but not before a brilliant purple ray of energy exploded from Ayumii's open palm, flying straight into the center of her chest. Jupiter gagged on her own blood as she was thrown backward, only to catch herself, barely, as she threw out her arms for balance. Ange stared at the orb as Ayumii glanced down at the Senshi below, her eyes cold and apathetic, as she dove down for Jupiter, orbs of purple in her hands. As though she were pitching a curve ball, she threw the balls of energy, down at the poor, fallen Senshi. They exploded on contact, generating a massive field of smaller blasts that collided into the other Senshi, blowing them into the air.

Ayumii glanced over her shoulder as a jet of yellow light exploded from Venus's index finger. It collided into the back of her head, forcing her to spin through the air. A second beam flew at Ayumii, straight into her solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her. She drew her finger back, only to stab the air, sending a massive shower of light soaring down at Ayumii. As the energy drew near, Ayumii extended her own hand, parrying the meteor shower of blasts with a series of her own attacks, each attack uniting in air, only to explode into a series of brilliant novas. Ayumii caught herself in the air, only to send a final blast soaring straight at Venus. She managed to parry the attack with one final beam of light, but, by that time, Ayumii had shot behind her, and placed her hand on the back of Venus's head. With a brilliant nova of light, Venus was thrown down to Earth, blood flying in the air.

"Venus!" Sailor Moon shrieked as Venus fell into Jupiter's outstretched arms. She was painfully still, barely twitching.

Mars turned toward Ayumii, her eyes wide with anger. Clenching her fists, she soared toward Ayumii, not even bothering to fire an attack, and simply throwing punch after punch at Ayumii. She managed to weave in between most of the blows, until one nailed her straight across the cheek. She was knocked backward, only to recover in an instant, roundhouse kicking her across the face. Mars was thrown backward, but caught herself in the air, as she shouted, at the top of her lungs, "Burning Mandela!" A series of flaming balls flew at Ayumii, who pulled backward out of the way of many of the flames, only to collide into a fireball as she evaded another. As her body burned from impact, the other fireballs navigated their way through the air, soaring straight into her body, exploding one after another on impact.

As the smoke cleared, Ayumii stood, bloody, but still intact.

"Damn it!" Mars snarled, withdrawing a paper talisman from her pocket. Before she could recite the incantation, however, a blast of energy had turned the talisman to ash. Ayumii glared at Mars, sending blast after blast at her. She weaved out of the way of most of them, only for three to collide into each shoulder in the grand finale of the attack. She was thrown backward, catching herself only barely as Mercury extended her own hands, summoning a field of mist that enveloped everything.

"We're running out of time," Rubeus muttered, anxiously, "Listen, Ange, we need you to summon the final beast."

"Final beast?" Ange wasn't paying attention to Rubeus. She was focusing on the mist, barely able to make out Ayumii in the mist, being hit by a massive onslaught of water that consumed her, throwing her into the air.

"Yes, before the others get up here. If that mist doesn't clear—"

"RUBEUS!!!"

Rubeus's body jerked to a halt as she glanced over her shoulder, as did Ange. Standing there, before them, was Sailor Moon, Chibi-Moon at her side, glaring at Rubeus with a passionate expression in her eyes. How did they get here? How did they find her? Turning back to the massive orb, she saw Jupiter holding Venus's body in her arms, Mars drifting above Ayumii, Mercury typing wildly in her computer, as Ayumii searched frantically for Sailor Moon and Chibi-Moon. So they had broken through the first line of defense!

Rubeus's eyes widened, his entire body convulsing with fear as Sailor Moon approached him, anger filling every part of her being. "A horrible fiend who manipulates little girls to do his dirty bidding. You—"

"Shut up and fight!" Rubeus snapped, rushing forward, drawing his fist back as he slammed his knuckles straight into Sailor Moon's cheek! She was thrown backward, into the soft ground, as Rubeus forced her face down into the pulsating organs, flipping through the air as he shoved her body into the soft flesh. Ange watched as Sailor Moon pushed herself up, hastily, only to extend her weapon at him, an expression of anger in her eyes.

Ange glanced back at the orb as she saw, to her horror, Ayumii struggling against a series of fireballs, repelling each one with a blast of pink energy, as Mercury flew behind her, sending an onslaught of water straight at her back. Before Ayumii could dodge the water, fire slammed into her back. Stunned, she fell headlong into the waterfall, the fire and water melding into a horrible explosion of light and vapor.

Turning back to Rubeus and Sailor Moon, Ange watched as her mother was punched in the solar plexus, kicked in the side, only to be grabbed by the throat by the crimson warrior, and thrown into the ribcage ceiling of the room. Rubeus kicked off the ground, spinning in the air, only to slam the heels of his feet into Sailor Moon's spine. She gagged on blood as Rubeus kicked her down to the ground, the warrior landing nimbly on his feet as the reincarnated Princess of the Moon fell heavily to the ground.

Rubeus was about to kick the fallen Senshi as she lied on the ground, but Sailor Moon rolled to the side, evading his foot, only to grab him around the ankle, pulling him to the ground. As Rubeus fell to the ground, Sailor Moon staggered backward, clutching her side in pain for a moment as she removed her tiara. As Rubeus rose to his feet, Sailor Moon held the tiara outstretched in her hand, a glowing disk consumed by sheer energy. Rubeus could only stare as Sailor Moon threw the disk at him with a single phrase: "Moon Tiara Action!"

The glowing disk flew at Rubeus, who could only throw his arms out to block the attack. However, the disk flew beneath his defense, tearing straight into his torso, blowing him backward, throwing him into the air, before the disk exploded out of his body, flying through the air, before reversing, slicing straight through Rubeus's side before returning into Sailor Moon's palm. Rubeus fell to his knees, blood running down his entire body, as he glared at the Senshi of the Moon.

Unable to stare at the grizzly sight for very much longer, Ange turned to the massive orb. Ayumii had fired a great blast of energy into Sailor Jupiter, who had tried to resist by firing an attack of her own. Her attack had drawn Ayumii's blood, but Ayumii's attack had done more damage. Still, Jupiter was acting as though nothing were wrong, as though there wasn't a massive gash running down the length of her arm that was bleeding profusely. Mars glared at Ayumii, withdrawing a talisman from her pocket as she began to recite an incantation. Ayumii extended her hand, a ball of pink forming in her open palm. As she fired it, Sailor Mercury fired her own attack, a barrage of water, into the blast. The two attacks collided, exploding in midair. Amidst the droplets of water in the air, like diamonds in the sky, the talisman soared straight at Ayumii. Ayumii fired a blast of energy, but missed the talisman, instead sending the blast straight into Sailor Mars's chest. Mars gagged on her own blood, but, nonetheless, wore an expression of satisfaction as the talisman slammed against Ayumii's forehead, sparks of scarlet exploding out of her body like a nova.

The glass orb cracked. Ange stumbled back in awe as she stared at the orb, the haunting mist rising into the air. Now left with nothing to distract her from the horrible fight before her, Ange turned to stare at Rubeus as he grunted in pain, extending both of his hands into the air, a great scarlet ball of energy forming in his open palm. Sailor Moon, likewise, began to spin in the air, her weapon outstretched, as energy began to form around her. As Rubeus fired his attack in a brilliant explosion of energy, Sailor Moon shouted, at the top of her lungs, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"

The two attacks collided in midair, sparks flying through the air. Rubeus, despite his injuries, was holding his own against Sailor Moon, who was buckling under the weight of resisting Rubeus's attack. Her flurry of hearts in the air gave to the force of the scarlet energy. As Ange felt her heart pound against her ribs in excitement, she watched as Chibi-Moon extended her own weapon. Rubeus glanced at her from the corner of his eye, sweat pouring down his forehead in anxiety. At the top of her lungs, she shouted, "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"

A small, pathetic jet of energy exploded from the tip of her staff. It bashed against Rubeus's side. Normally, Ange would have laughed at the pathetic output of power, but now, with Rubeus's great injuries, Ange was shocked as she watched Rubeus cry out in pain, blood splattering out of his side. Taking advantage of his moment of weakness, Sailor Moon put all her strength behind the attack, ripping through the energy, soaring through the crimson jet of energy, ripping into Rubeus's palms, and, in a sudden output of power, throwing him into the air, blood flying from his chest, as he slammed against the orb, shattering it to pieces in his wake.

Ange rushed to his side as Sailor Moon fell to her knees, wheezing painfully as she appreciated the full impact of her injuries. Ange stared at Rubeus as he gasped for air, blood running from his body in torrents. No, this couldn't be. Rubeus was her guardian, the one who had made everything make so much sense, one of those responsible for granting her such power. Her guardian couldn't be so weak! He couldn't just fall so easily like this! And now Ange had nothing to stop the others from attacking her. If only she herself had more power, something to defend herself, then surely, SURELY, those bastards would all just stare in awe in the wake of her strength.

Rubeus extended his hand, holding against Ange's shoulder. Ange stared down into his fading eyes as he whispered, weakly, "Ange, assimilate me."

"What?"

"Take me into yourself. Quickly. It's the only way you can fulfill your purpose."

"What's my purpose?"

"Get away from him, Ange!" Chibi-Moon, standing before them both, her wand outstretched, stared at her younger sister with an expression of passion.

"What do you know, Chibiusa?" Ange snapped, aggressively, "Why should I listen to you? All you ever wanted to do was beat me, and now I have a chance at beating you!"

"What are you talking about? I never—"

Ange had had enough of Chibiusa's damn lies. She knew exactly what they wanted, how much they wanted, and how they wanted it. All they wanted to do was beat her. Well, if they fought this hard to show her up, to beat her, then she'd accept Rubeus and all his power.

"Alright, Rubeus, come into me."


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 8**

Ange felt darkness overwhelm her as her soft, infant skin came into contact with Rubeus's calloused epidermis. As the chilling rotten aura swallowed her up, as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, she could hear a cold voice in the back of her head, laughing, gently, but not cruelly, but rather, reassuringly. Ange felt energy fill her, envelop her, before she felt her body contort and morph. The first thing she noticed was a searing pain fill her spine as it stretched, twisting as she grew inch by inch, each centimeter searing through her. Her hips and breasts exploded outward, her body undergoing changes that she wasn't supposed to for an additional decade. Her hair grew in proportion to her body, long locks extending from each high bun. As she grew, the baby fat on her body was stretched out along her larger body, her muscle becoming more prominent on her body as her piercing eyes gazed at her mother and sister.

Ange exhaled, slowly, as she gazed at each of them, fury and animosity enveloping her. Those two had caused her great pain, such great pain. The final summon? That had been Rubeus's last request, his dying wish. If her mentor had wanted that so greatly, then Ange would deliver it, but not until she tested the new power coursing through her body. She glanced at her mother as she extended her hand, sparks of dark orange energy swirling around her knuckles. She felt energy fill her as Sailor Moon's eyes widened in terror. And then, as though letting go of the reigns of a hourse, the energy exploded outward, soaring directly into her chest!

She was thrown from her feet into the air, as little Chibiusa watched, slamming against the ribcage high above. Ange watched, with relish, as she screamed, clutching her broken chest as she tumbled to the soft floor, twitching weakly on the pulsating ground. Her skin was covered with icy cold sweat, her fingernails grinding into the meaty ground she lied on. Chibiusa dove onto her mother, shaking her shoulders, vehemently, tears in her eyes, as she screamed.

"Usagi! Usagi! Wake up, Usagi! Get up, damn it!" she screeched, trying to pull Sailor Moon to her feet, despite the fact that her head was now slumped down, leaning against her collarbone.

"She won't wake up." Ange's voice was deeper than she expected.

"Ange!" Chibiusa stammered, glaring up at her younger sister.

"You are such a fool," sighed Ange, approaching her elder, smaller sister, "You thought you were so much greater than me, that you held all the answers. Well, let me tell you, you little bitch, that you—"

"I know exactly how you feel," Chibiusa shouted, filled with rage.

Ange raised an eyebrow at this curious response. She had just blown their mother against a wall, beaten her, but Chibiusa was trying to relate to her? Was she trying to get inside Ange's head? Did she think that she could stop this? Stop the final summoning? Did she know what that meant? Even Ange didn't know what that meant. Surely this was just a bluff, just a lie, to get Ange weak. Yeah, that had to be it. All Ange needed to do was slaughter her, but only after demonstrating just how infinite her power truly was. She extended her hand, a loathsome glint in her eye, as she snarled, "Liar!"

"Before, when I was sent to the past, with Wiseman—"

"ARGH!!!!" At the sound of that name, Ange's skull began to pulsate. She grabbed her scalp, driving her nails deep into her skin, doubling over in pain. That name! It seared in her flesh, wrenched her cerebellum to pieces, tearing apart her vision. She could see stars, literal stars, blinking in her view as she struggled to stand. It was as though something were struggling to break free, something wanting to rip the chains that bound it inside of Ange to shreds.

Just who was Wiseman?

"What's wrong?" Chibiusa stammered, drawing closer. Ange slammed her knuckles across that brat's cheek, throwing her against the wall. Ange glared at her body as she tumbled down to the floor, twitching weakly, as she glared at Chibiusa, drawing closer, heaving her up to her feet, up to eye level.

"Who is that person? Tell me now!" Ange shook Chibiusa until her eyes fluttered open, weakly, her eyes out of focus.

"Who? Wis—"

"Don't say it! Who was he?" Ange snapped.

"A monster. He wanted to silence the universe," Chibiusa moaned, weakly.

"What do you mean by that? What does that mean?"

"He wanted to annihilate everything, to destroy everything and everyone, by ruining the past. He trapped everyone, even you, in crystal, imprisoning everything! Don't you remember?" Chibiusa asked, anxiously.

"I don't remember anything," Ange replied, struggling to remember anything. Trapped in crystal? Ange didn't remember anything like that, not a damn thing! Surely it was just a façade, just a lie, to manipulate her. She struggled to remember that, but, now that she thought about it, there was just a large black stretch in that time period, as though she had been sleeping, unaware of the universe, hibernating.

"Maybe he did something to you," Chibiusa stammered, "Maybe W—"

"Shut up!" Ange snapped, shaking her sister wildly, before clamping her hands around the poor girl's throat. Without a doubt, now she'd be quiet. Once her voice box was crushed completely, her windpipe snapped in two, her veins tear open, surely then she'd finally be gone, out of her life, out of this world entirely. Surely then Ange would be the greatest, have everyone regard her as the strongest! Everyone would care about her!

But this was wrong.

Ange's grip slackened, allowing Chibiusa to fall to the floor, struggling to breathe. Why did Ange just release her? What was wrong with her? She stared at her open palms, flexing each finger, as she struggled to see the truth. What was she doing? Why wasn't she finishing the job? Why wasn't she finishing that little bitch here and now, as she needed to? Chibiusa was a little brat who deserved to be annihilated! She flexed her fingers, ready to gouge her sister's eyes out, but drew back.

She was so frail, clearly at her mercy. She gazed up into Ange's eyes, her pupils quivering dangerously as sweat billowed on her face. Surely this was enough. Surely this was what she wanted. She was the strongest, the one in control. Chibiusa was victim to her mercy, her will. Surely now, she held the reigns to the horse, and could drive them over her sister's little body!

No, it wasn't enough. Chibiusa needed to die!

Through the floor beneath her, several yards away, Ayumii's body was thrown into the air, against the ribcages above, before slumping down to the floor. Ange stared, in terror, as the four Senshi, all weak, barely able to breath, pulled themselves into the room. Ayumii slowly rose to her feet, standing over the others. The talisman was still stamped on her forehead, but she still wore her stoic, calm expression as she always did. Gently, she tore the talisman from her forehead, before turning to face Ange.

"Ayumii? Are you alright?" she asked, tensely, glancing at the other Senshi as they turned to their leader, Sailor Moon, as she remained, motionless, on the floor, barely able to breathe.

"Fine. Better than before," Ayumii replied, glancing at Ange, taking a few steps toward her.

"Perfect," Ange replied, "I need you to kill the enemy. Kill them all!" Ange felt such power coursing through her. She could control Ayumii, a warrior great enough to defeat the Sailor Senshi all by herself! She had been afraid before, but now, seeing the weakened warriors before her, Ange knew that now even she could finish the job!

"If that is what you wish," Ayumii replied, still staring at Ange. Why was she looking at her like that, so stoic and calm, so perfectly still and unable to emote? What was with her? Why was she so perfectly calm, so perfectly emotionless? She felt fear, genuine fear, fill her. Her knuckles began to twitch, sparks flying through her fingers, as Ayumii drew closer, until, finally, she was an inch away from Ange. "Very well, I'll kill the enemy, if that's what you wish."

"That is what I wish," Ange replied, inching away, slowly.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Who is the enemy?"

"Everyone else."

"Even me?"

"No, not you!"

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend," Ange stammered, confused by Ayumii's statement. Why would Ayumii be Ange's enemy? She was always her friend, and, even if she did have great power, she would do what Ange said. Surely that was friendship, right? No, it wasn't friendship. Friendship was trust, the power to truly commute with others, but Ange was afraid of her friend. She didn't trust her at all. But Ayumii was forced to listen to her. She was a part of Ange!

"What about Rubeus?"

"He's gone."

"Was he your friend?"

"Of course!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Did you know Rubeus wanted to harm you?" Ayumii asked.

"What do you mean?" Rubeus? Harm Ange? That was impossible! Had those Senshi told Ayumii something after the orb exploded? Told her a secret, or perhaps some deceitful lie? Did that talisman reprogram her brain or something? No, she couldn't allow this! She had to stop them now, stop the enemy before all hell broke loose. And the enemy now was Ayumii.

Ange reached out for her friend, grabbing her by her throat, squeezing it between her fingers, until, to her relish, her skin began to change color. But she never changed expression. Ayumii continued to gaze up at her with that same frown, those same eyes, and, as she spoke, her voice didn't tremble, but rather sounded unaffected, as though she her windpipe wasn't close to snapping, wasn't about to give under the great strength of her fingers.

"He wanted to use you," Ayumii said, "Wants to manipulate you. All he wants is the final summon."

"How do you know?" Ange asked, loathsomely.

"We're all connected. We spawns all connect. We share the same collective psyche. Once that talisman cleared my head, I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"It isn't yours."

"What isn't?"

"The psyche."

"Then whose is it?"

"Wiseman."

Ange screamed in pain. She released her grip on Ayumii as she tumbled to her knees, scratching down on her scalp as the other Senshi gasped in fear, staring at her. They stared in horror, as she struggled to rise to her feet, her eyes wavering in their sockets, as tears ran down her eyes, streaming over her cheeks like waterfalls as pain filled her entirely, consuming every fiber of her being as she struggled to think straight, think through the pain, through the suffering, through the confusion.

Wiseman? Who the hell was he?

"Wiseman is returning?" Mercury asked, weakly. Ange felt pain renew in her body, making her scream again, making her cry in agony. Why did they need to say that bloody name? Why were they shouting out that bastard's label, summoning that epic, almighty pain that filled her body so thoroughly?

"Damn it!" Mars gagged on the blood that filled her mouth, the crimson liquid that was drowning her.

"Ange, let it go," Ayumiii replied, rising over Ange as the poor girl began to convulse on the floor, kicking the air as she struggled to stand, "You don't need to fight us. We aren't the enemy. The darkness is inside of you. That's the wickedness. Don't submit to—"

"Don't say his name! Don't say Wiseman!"

And, upon the sound of her name, a new dark cloud exploded from Ange's mouth, swirling in the air. As all of them watched, the cloud sparked through the air, that same laugh Ange heard echoing in her skull only minutes earlier filling the air. Chibiusa glanced weakly up at the cloud, wincing as dark fumes stroked her skin. She curled up in a ball, blood oozing from her open sores.

Wiseman had returned.


	9. Chapter 9

**Part 9**

The dark cloud of sin and torment solidified above the Senshi as the dark folds of Wiseman's cloak came into being. As Ange watched, tears of pain running down her cheeks, she watched the villain who had tormented her body without her ever knowing his existence, the creature everyone seemed deathly afraid of, come into being. Under a dark hood lied the body of infinity, the spirit beyond the barrier of death, an entity beyond mortal comprehension. As the one known as Wiseman ascended higher up to the zenith of the vaulted ceiling, Ange had but a single question:

"Who the hell are you?"

The God-like devil glanced down at Ange, his expression covered by the shadows of his hood. Ange suspected that this fiend didn't have a face to express at all. "Little Ange, so young and full of life."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Such a simple mortal, empowered by the forces of darkness you know not of."

"Stop talking in riddles."

"Riddles? But riddles are the pathway to self-actualization. They are the key to knowing the truth about all that exists in the macrocosm."

"I don't understand any of the words you're saying!"

"Ah, but that is only because you are but a child, youthful at heart no matter how you alter your appearance."

"Just what are you here for?" Ayumii asked.

"A question like that coming from your lips? But I assumed you had all the answers," Wiseman taunted.

"I know nothing more than what I have been programmed to understand." Ayumii gazed up into the hood high above, the flowing robes of shadows, as she spoke, firm and true. "You are an entity beyond the normal levels of comprehension, an agent in favor of bringing silence to all that exists, perhaps including yourself. I won't ask what drives you to such ends, but answer this: how have you returned, and for what purpose?"

"Ah, such a vocalized thought from a mere instrument of my great gambit," Wiseman laughed, "Well, if you must know, I have always been a part of little Ange since her birth, ever since her mother was attacked by an agent of the Black Moon Clan. As you may know, when Neo-Queen Serenity was pregnant with little Ange, one of the dark Moon Clan arrived on Earth for an ill-fated assassination attempt. Although his attack failed, he managed to serve the purpose I intended him to serve. I had enveloped him in a field of darkness that contaminated the usually pure aura of Neo-Queen Serenity. That, however, was only stage one in my back-up plan."

"Back-up?" Mercury asked, confused.

"Exactly. I feared that I might fall in the attempt to bring about utter silence to the cosmos, so I decided to develop a safety plan. In order to trigger it, however, I'd need to lure you, Ange, to me."

"What do you mean?" Ange asked, bewildered.

"Simply put, I kidnapped your spirit as Crystal Tokyo was enveloped by my power in the wake of the Silver Crystal being removed by your dearest sister. With your mother asleep, all the Senshi struggling against the obvious attack, a small little mental connection was easily created, a hole through the plan the Senshi had against me. With that, I inserted my psyche into Ange's soul, and thus maintained a back-up existence. With my fall at the hands of Sailor Moon and her daughter, my mind didn't die, but rather returned to Ange, where I decided to regenerate and return to full power."

"But how?" Mercury asked, "I mean, I understand that it all worked out in the end, but what was your plan to restore yourself?"

"By manipulating Ange's perception of reality to bring her closer into my wing," Wiseman said, "By triggering chemicals in her brain, I reprogrammed her to feel offended more easily, more open to suggestion, and, in the end, it all resulted in her being the individual you see today."

Ange listened the whole while, restlessly, as everything came together for her, hauntingly, shockingly, and nightmarishly. Everything was a lie? She had been manipulated all along by a freak in a cloak? By that terrifying devil? Nothing she felt was really the real her feeling. It was all a made up scenario, a lie, a scam. She, Ange, or whatever she was now, was just a lie, a scam, a gambit to restore this dead monstrosity to full power. And she had eaten out of his hand, she had fallen into the spell, the enchantment. She had been so enamored with her own power that she hadn't even realized how she was being used! She wanted to cry, but knew, in her heart, her tears wouldn't do anything.

"And now you stand here, weak and defenseless against my might," Wiseman cackled, extending his hands sharply. A powerful gust of wind blew the Senshi backward, flying against the opposite wall. Ange watched as Chibiusa and her mother were thrown against the other Senshi, her mother's weak body flopping over the place, her eyelids knocked open as her empty, defeated eyes stared into oblivion. Only Sailor Mercury stood, weakly, checking the vital signs of the Senshi, finding personal relief after checking each body for injury, for signs of death. Ange watched as only Ayumii stood her ground, gazing up at the monster above them all.

"Ayumii!" Ange cried, hugging her body as pain consumed her anew.

"Tell me, Wiseman, what you will do now?" Ayumii asked, coldly.

"I don't understand."

"I mean, what do you plan on doing with Ange?"

"Ange? She is completely within my control."

She wanted to stab that man above her.

"Even if she wants me dead, there's nothing she can do about it."

Ange wanted to strangle that skeleton.

"It is in her code, her programming, not to harm her true father."

Father? No, she had a father named Endymion, and he—

A single rose flew through the air, landing in the midst of the darkness beneath Wiseman's hood. The petals burst into purple and blue flame as a lone figure in a tuxedo appeared before them all, a cane in his hand, a mask on his face, a top hat on his head of messy black hair. Behind him a light of the outside world, a hole drilled through flesh and blood, was a savior garbed with a tuxedo, a cape fluttering behind him, a smile on his lips.

"The sinful such as yourself have no true right to torment the realities of those who have yet to find their destiny. If we adults are the present, than the children will be the future of the stars that have yet to be born. You are an old star, from millennia ago. It is your time to let go of life, and explode in a brilliant supernova."

Ange recognized the newcomer at once. Yes, his garments were pewter in her original world, yes, he was centuries older despite having aged a mere few years, but his beauty, outfit, and gentle aura of serenity were unmistakable. There was only one individual who smelt so strongly of gentle roses on the seaside. A smile of joy spread across Ange's face as she cried out for the newcomer. "Daddy!"

"Tuxedo Mask?" Sailor Mercury stammered before gagging on her own blood.

The one named Tuxedo Mask, Mamoru, and Ange's father turned to face Ange, a curious expression on his face. Ange felt the need to pull her father to her breast, embracing him once more, to hear words of praise and forgiveness. However, it was only as she reached out her hand for the man that was to be her father did she realize, in a flash, that he knew not of her existence. To him, she was but a mere sinful stain on reality. Tears flooded her eyes as realization dawned to her that to Mamoru, she, Ange, was but a devil just like Wiseman: vermin to be exterminated.

"Daddy?" Tuxedo Mask repeated, curiously, "Can you explain what you mean by that?"

"There is no time right now for needless explanation," Ayumii interrupting, raising her staff, "If you wish for your life, good King Endymion, I recommend you leave now."

"King Endymion? Are you both from the future?" Tuxedo Mask asked.

"How long have you been listening?" Sailor Mercury asked, stunned.

"Not long at all," Tuxedo Mask confessed.

"That's your future daughter," Mercury shouted, pointing at Ange.

"Is she older than Chibiusa?" asked Tuxedo Mask.

"Help me," Ange cried, reaching out for Tuxedo Mask, hoping to touch his glove, his fingers, his sanctuary.

"Certainly," Tuxedo Mask assured her before glancing up at Wiseman high above, wielding his cane out before him.

"You don't stand a chance," Wiseman laughed, extending his hand, sparks of darkness soaring within his open palm, "Now, welcome to oblivion!"

A jet of energy surged out of his hand, flying toward Tuxedo Mask. Like a blur against the morning sky, he evaded the attack, allowing the volts to pummel the Earth, leaving a noteworthy crater but no injured flesh. A second bolt of energy flew at the future King, only for him to evade the blast once again, his cape being burnt as it grazed against the energy Wiseman fired. Tuxedo Mask threw a second rose, which burned up before drawing near to Wiseman's robe.

"Your attacks are ineffective," Ayumii observed, passively watching Tuxedo Mask evade blast after blast, dancing between the flurry of dark jets, "Why continue fighting?"

Tuxedo Mask leapt into the air, drawing the cane behind his head as he drew nearer to Wiseman. The devil extended his hands toward the newcomer, bolts surrounding his hand as the distance between them shrank. As Wiseman unleashed his full might against the warrior's breast, Tuxedo Mask threw the cane directly at Wiseman. As he was thrown down into the floor, into the mushy, pulsating flesh below, his cane plunged through the skull of Wiseman, tearing through the opposite end of his cloak, only to fly into the ceiling behind him, penetrating the ribcage around them. Wiseman fell to the ground, weakly, twitching slightly, as Tuxedo Mask remained convulsing on the floor, reaching for his chest.

All the while, Ange could only stare in horror. Her limbs, usually vibrant and full of energy, could scarcely move. All she could do was stare in shock, the pain in her body slowly subsiding, as she watched Tuxedo Mask slowly push himself up into a semi-sitting position, his body struggling against the forces of gravity, as he turned to Ayumii, a proud, yet shaky, grin on his lips. "I never surrender. Occasionally, I get lucky."

"Lucky?" Ayumii repeated, questionably.

Ange could only stare as Ayumii turned to Wiseman, and drew nearer to him. She bent down, pressing her staff against his body. "I see no signs of life. Just bones. No flesh. No life. A perfect embodiment of death."

Ange slowly pushed herself to her feet, barely able to balance herself, her adult form trembling as she stared at Wiseman. Why did she feel a sense of loss for the monster? Why did she feel as though a piece of what made her so special, so important, was now gone? Why did she feel anger at Ayumii for those words of truth, that Wiseman was gone, that he was an embodiment of death, while just moments ago she wanted Wiseman to die and suffer?

Why did she want Ayumii to disappear forever more?

Ayumii's eyes widened in shock, as though a knife were just plunged down her chest. She staggered backward, clawing at her breast, as her dilated eyes glanced over at Ange, who could only stare back at her with an expression of bewilderment. What was happening? Why was she suffering? Ange ran to Ayumii's side, forgetting the pain that had consumed her body only moments before as she clamped her hands on Ayumii's shoulders, to see if her convulsing form could be held still. Tears ran down Ange's eyes as she cried out her friend's name, trying to hold her still.

Ayumii's mouth opened wide as a thin stream of dark smoke rose from her throat, rising into the air, only to descend to Wiseman, enveloping the fallen nightmare in a fog of wicked black. With every plume that escaped Ayumii, Wiseman's body rose higher into the air, sparks of darkness surrounding him as his cloak repaired itself. With every plume that escaped Ayumii, the sensation of pain seemed to return to Ange, filling her with excruciating agony.

With every plume that escaped Ayumii, her flesh began to char.

Eventually, the last waft of smoke escaped the Senshi, and her now black body fell to the ground, shattering to pieces against it. Ange fell to her knees, hugging herself in pain as she stared at the black flakes of death, of burned flesh, of Ayumii, never able to return to the land of the living for as long as Ange wished. Never again would Ange be able to even gaze into her friend's eyes, sense her friend's gentle aura of joy and happiness, never would she be able to light the room up again with her indifference, with her gentle serenity.

And the reason was Wiseman.

No, the reason was Ange.

Ange glared upward at the devil hovering above them all, a black aura of flame radiating around him, two glowing circles under his hood like carlights glaring down at her. "I have returned to my full power, it would seem. Ayumii must have retained some of my essence, and that is what limited me from returning to full strength. Otherwise I would have slaughtered all of you within nanoseconds of my return. I suppose I aught to eliminate the future Neo-King Endymion, or should I start with the ones who killed me last time, Sailor Moon?"

Sailor Mercury stood before the fallen future Queen, her arms spread out as she struggled to stand. "I'll never let you pass, Wiseman!"

Tuxedo Mask struggled to rise, glaring at Wiseman through his weak eyes. "As long as I stand, you fiend, I'll never let you gain even an inch of ground over us."

Wiseman laughed in amusement. "Your resistance is useless, if not downright amusing. I doubt you'd ever be able to even put dust on my cloak in this state. I can regenerate from any of your attacks, and my power is downright infinite. There is nothing any of you can do that could possibly stop me. You may as well accept the inevitable and just die here and now!"

Surrender? Maybe he was right. There was no point continuing. They had been beaten. Perhaps silence was worth their death. After all, people had died already because of Ange. She had wanted power. She had brought Wiseman back. Had she just listened to the others, listened to what they said, none of this would have happened. It was all her fault. She had no one to blame other than herself. She needed to fall, needed to die. As long as she could do that, then all would be fine.

No, it wouldn't.

This was her mess, and she needed to clean it. Take responsibility for what she did to an extent. She hadn't killed Ayumii, had she? She had wanted it for but a moment, but Wiseman was the one who had brought this upon everyone. This was Wiseman's plan. He wanted Ange to surrender, to feel despair and pain. She wouldn't allow that monstrosity, that fiend, to have the satisfaction of beating her. She needed to stand up to her enemy. Wasn't that what she wanted all along? To have power? Here she had power, here she had the strength. Surely now, more than ever, she'd be able to annihilate her enemy?

It was only then that she felt a warmth surge within her heart, consuming her, enveloping her, raising her above the ground to drift in the air. Light burst from every orifice in her body, every pore, every cell. She felt her hair flutter above the ground as Wiseman stared at her, a look of shock expressed despite his face being consumed with shadow. "What? What is this?!"

There Ange drifted, her slender form giving way to gentle baby fat as her limbs contracted, her torso softening as it shrank, her bust line shrinking as she returned to her original height, her eyes closed as the pain gently subsided into the warmth of her great aura of euphoria. She felt her clothing dissolve away, leaving her bare and naked, before new garments materialized over her, a flared skirt, high boots, long gloves, an orange uniform akin to a sailor around her body, as she slowly opened her wide eyes, filled with the appearance of youth, and yet also the maturity of adulthood.

Wiseman drifted backward, his body expressing the purest expression of horror. "This isn't possible! This isn't what was planned. Just who are you?"

"I don't know, but I suppose the only name left for me to take is Sailor Sun."

"Sailor Sun? Unoriginal at best."

"Very true, but that doesn't change the fact that I will punish you!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Part 10**

The whistling sound if wind soaring over the great hole in the belly of the beast they all stood in filled the room, sending a chill through each of their ears, filling the entire chamber with icy cold air that froze their joints as they shivered silently. The weak bodies, broken and bloody on the floor, were behind Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Mask, who were staring dead ahead at the great entity before them, Wiseman, as Sailor Sun, Ange, stared at the same antagonist, the same devil, there in the center of the great body, two shining stars of darkness glowing where his eyes ought to be.

"Punish me, you say?" Wiseman laughed, amused, "You understand very little, little Ange. I had no trouble taking your guardians to a near death-like state, and I had no trouble manipulating you without even a body to break you. What makes you think that a little change of attire will actually convince me that there's more than just a bratty little child standing before me?"

Ange silently gulped as anxiety filled her. The truth was there was nothing too different, not too much of a change between the her that had existed seconds before, a woman consumed entirely by darkness, as opposed to the little girl that stood here now, a girl consumed entirely by light. Still, she couldn't lose faith. Ayumii had stood her ground while Ange remained motionless, unable to do a thing. The way she saw it, she owed it to her, owned Ayumii everything, if not only to try attack her head on, and maybe even die trying.

"I see," Wiseman chuckled, "You have no reason to be assured of your newfound ability. All you have is hope. Allow me to crush that hope in my very hands!" Wiseman extended his hand, releasing an array of black lightning from his palm. Bolts of energy surged into the center of her chest. She felt herself being thrown backward, into the fleshy floor of their chamber, blood splattering into the air like the water that soared into the air when a rock was tossed in a puddle. As the droplets of scarlet rolled down her checks, Ange felt pain unimaginable fill her chest. With each raspy breath she felt pain fill her veins, her lungs, her windpipe. As her eyes wavered in her sockets, she asked, simply, what had changed. Did she have the power to create attacks just as formidable as his?

She extended a shaky hand, unable to speak, but able to imagine a ball of light, orange in hue, appearing in her gloved palm. As though commanded by will alone, a sphere appeared between her fingers, only to explode outward at Wiseman. It slammed against his shoulder, tearing apart the fabric of his cloak, throwing his aim off center. Ange rolled out of the grip of the twisted electric power, rising to her feet shakily as she darted toward Wiseman as fast as her plump little legs could take her.

She was thrown to the ground by a single bolt of darkness.

"You think you can overcome such insignificant obstacles just by putting a pretty light on the matter? It is such an idiotic concept to believe that you are somehow stronger just by putting on a different suit, or a different body, or even a different life. You're pathetic if you believe your mind can possibly believe such an idiotic transformation truly changes your inevitable fate."

Ange rose to her feet, her legs trembling under her light weight, as she glared at Wiseman, a glint of loathing in her eyes. Here this fiend stood, here he stood to taunt and humiliate her, here he stood to drive the nail deeper into her heart, the nail that all of this, all of this conflict and pain, all of this death, was because of her. She was the source of all pain. She had to be the one who took all the hurt away, even if it was by force.

And then it hit her.

Ange smiled in amusement as she glared at Wiseman. "I brought you into this world, right?"

"That would be correct. Allow the knowledge that you heralded the eternal silence of the universe to comfort you in your grave!"

"If I brought you here, I can just as easily take you out!" Ange shrieked, extending her hands out before her as two orbs of light shot from the palms of her hands, colliding headlong into Wiseman's breasts. The orbs tore through his fabric, knocking him backward, as Ange concentrated hard on Wiseman's body. All she wanted, more than anything, more than any of her deepest wishes, was that Wiseman would disappear, that she could take Wiseman back into herself, and crush him, compress him, until all that remained was a collapsed star of nothingness, a dwarf star, the cinders of a supernova.

At first, Wiseman chuckled, extending his own hands as he laughed, in amusement, "You have no way of understanding just how our connection works. You can bring me out, but you can never—" Wiseman's voice died in his nonexistent throat. Sparks of darkness surrounded him like a cage as he gazed with terror at his hands as they slowly began to grow transparent, the sparks of darkness swirling around his cloak, his body, his aura. "This is impossible. There's no way—there's no way that this can happen!" The sparks became thicker, like bolts in the clouds, as the seconds passed, turning into minutes, as Wiseman remained on his knees, gripping his scalp through the fabric of his cloak.

Ange felt her skin tighten over her muscles, her eyes trembling in their sockets as sweat exploded from her pores, her mouth dry and parched like a desert the size of an organ. As she glared at Wiseman, she watched as his body began to tremble, as lumps rose from underneath his cloak, as small spiders collapsed from the depths of his hood, falling against the ground before exploding into red hot cinders that swirled around his body, casting a dark light around his body as more lumps exploded around his body, testing the limits of his attire. And then, the fabric broke, allowing a dozen great tentacles to explode from the depths of his cloak, covered in a thick coat of black hair, filthy and ragged. As the tentacles wriggled in the air, writhing and convulsing, Wiseman shrieked in synch with a thousand eyes that ran up the scale of the tendrils opening up simultaneously.

"His power level is convulsing inward," Sailor Mercury stammered, "His and Ange's egos are contorting."

"Their egos?" Tuxedo Mask asked, a note of terror in his voice.

"The ego is what keeps individuals as individuals, keeping me from you. The fact that Wiseman and Ange's egos are flickering means that they're about to merge."

Wiseman threw his arms out as the tenticles flared outward, the sound of screams pain filling the chamber as great spikes exploded out of him, piercing the walls of the organic cavity, sending blood into the air, red fluid raining down upon them all as the spikes twisted around themselves like a drill. His body was pulled into the air, like a marionette being held into the air. As Wiseman shrieked with all his might, a great arm exploded from his chest, stretching farther and farther until its great fingers curled around Ange's torso. She was heaved into the air as fear consumed her. Her grip was weakening, her power fading. She felt terror fill her as the tentacles wrapped themselves around her limbs, her skull, her hips, her joints, her hair, her everything. She was dragged into the epicenter of Wiseman's black being, and all became dark and stagnant.

How long Ange remained in the bleak darkness of oblivion, drifting through the clouds of foul wickedness was an enigma that would never, so long as Ange lived, be solved. However, it was there that Ange woke up, staring into the black filthy ground as the scents of fear and darkness surged through her nostrils. As she pushed herself up, she saw her Sailor Sun attire had faded away, returning to its original, ordinary form. And there, surrounding her, were the monsters that she had created, with Rubeus in the front of the pack. He grinned in amusement as Ange stared up at him, a glint of fear in her eyes. Why was he here? Why was she here? What did this mean? Was this some sort of nightmare that she had been sucked into? Or was this where they had been born, where she had created them, inside of her very heart.

A heart of darkness.

"Hello, little Ange." Rubeus bowed in mock appreciation with a flurry of his hands, his scarlet eyes locked on the girl before him. There was a wicked light about him, a foulness that Ange could never understand, could never uncover completely, as fear consumed her. He had lied to her, had manipulated her, had betrayed her, had used her, had ruined her, had used her as an instrument to summon that damned Wiseman. "I find you like what we've done to the place."

"Where am I?" Ange stammered, her eyes shifting to and fro.

"This is the darkness inside of you," Rubeus replied, "The place where all the monsters inside of you were born. This is where you made Hell, where you allowed all your wishes to come true. This is a part of you that you cannot deny exists. You wanted people to notice you, to compliment you, to make you feel worthwhile. And to that end, you created us."

"No! That's not true! It's just not true at all," Ange stammered, "I didn't want any of this!"

This was a lie.

"You were really just a foul little girl who was jealous of others. And for that, you sought a way to become powerful and great, and opened your heart to darkness. You're the source of all the pain, of all the destruction, of all the conflict, and yet you don't even stop to think about all the benefits you have in front of you. Do you realize, dear Ange, that you have the potential to dominate the world, to hold reality in your grasp and remold it the way you wish?"

"No, I don't! It's all Wiseman's power! I have nothing! There's nothing I can do. It's all him. I have a different power, a purer one—!"

"And a weaker one at that," Rubeus interrupted, "That power is barely enough to injure Wiseman, let alone influence the world. All you can do is fire a few blasts of light, and, if you cleanse the darkness from within you, that power may disappear altogether. The light and darkness must balance one another. Shadow is cast by light. If there is less shadow, surely there is less light to cast it."

"Shut up! That's not true!" Ange stammered, running her fingers through her locks of hair. Surely what they were saying was true. Surely, by giving up the dark powers she had been granted, she was allowing the light to disappear as well. She still wanted people to look at her, to acknowledge her for who she was. She wanted people to love her. Was she somehow satisfied when people wanted to stop her, to hurt her? Did it bring her pleasure? Perhaps it really wasn't that bad to just allow them all to suffer, so long as they noticed her in turn.

"He lies."

Ange looked up. Held back by numerous tentacles was Ayumii, a glint in her eyes as she strained against her constraints, her muscles knotted as she kept her gaze forward, her long locks of hair tugged by a monster that had been slain earlier. There she was, in her outfit, full power, and yet weak against the multitude of demons that had returned to her womb. "Ayumii!"

"He wants nothing more than rebirth," Ayumii replied.

"She intends to deceive you. She wants to hold you back from reaching your truest potential," Rubeus replied, his lips curled into a sneer, "Surely you don't listen to the one who wishes you nothing but harm. She wanted to kill you, to destroy you, to—"

"Ayumii! Get out of there!" Ange shrieked, running toward her friend, only for Rubeus to extend his arm, hold her back from her friend as she reached out for her, praying to touch fingertips, to fold her hand into hers, to pull her free from the organic cage that bound her. Rubeus pulled her away, holding her in his own grip, as she slammed Ange against the walls of darkness, the walls of her heat, a wall that pulsated gently. The border gave slightly, cracking under the great force of Rubeus's strength.

"Do you really think it would be so easy, little girl?" Rubeus laughed, a mad glint in his eyes as his lips curled into a great smile, his shining teeth like platinum as his fingers curled around her throat, "Did you really think you could defeat the Black Moon Clan? We were the ones who would rise, who would emerge victorious in this conflict in the very end. There was nothing, nothing I tell you, that could prevent us from rising to the zenith of our potential. All that awaits you now is death: simple as that. Once you're gone, Wiseman can rise, and we'll be all powerful!"

Ange heard nothing.

She only saw the light shinning from the cracks in the wall behind her. As Rubeus exerted more weight against her body, the cracks grew more pronounced, and light behind the wall shone through more and more. Ange's eyes widened as she realized that there was something behind this wall, beyond this chamber, that was more than anything she could have ever imagined. Light casted the greatest shadow when a great object stood in the way of light. If she could remove that obstruction, then the shadow would disappear, and only light, brilliant light in all its glory, would reign supreme.

She shoved her fingers into the fissures formed under force. She could feel the other side as the barrier crumbled beneath her, slowly but enough soon so she could fit her entire hand through the crack, all the while Rubeus grinned, squeezing her windpipe so that air could barely escape her lungs. As the warm light bathed her knuckles, she could hear the words, faint yet clear, "And your corpse shall be the foundation of the darkness that consumes this universe as the Black Moon Clan rises to power!"

As Ange pulled against the wall, she felt light explode behind her. The gave through as Rubeus inadvertently shoved the little girl straight through the barrier, ripping the wall between light and darkness to shreds. Brilliance filled the chamber, blinding Rubeus as he tumbled backward, relinquishing Ange as the other beasts cringed. Ayumii tore free of the tentacles, ripping them from their sockets only for scarlet blood to splatter against the floor. The organs that had wrapped around her like chains were soon reduced to crimson blood. Soon, the former tentacles owner met a similar fate, melting away into a puddle of red. The demons behind Rubeus soon exploded like water balloons into clouds of red liquid, droplets slowly settling as the seconds passed. Rubeus threw his arms over his eyes as he fell to his knees. His body trembled violently as he screamed in agony. "Damn it! Damn it all! Why's there so much light? Why?!"

"May I finish him?" Ayumii asked, smoke rising from her own body as she embraced the light.

"What's happening?" Ange asked, stunned as Rubeus's arms blistered and bleed.

"He's rejecting the light, the change," Ayumii replied, "All those who refuse to change when reality is forced upon them suffer this fate: the fate of untimely annihilation." At the sound of Ayumii's declaration, Rubeus's skin melted away, leaving but bare muscle and bone that began to burn away to red-hot cinders. The last thing to dissolve into bloody ash was Rubeus's heart, which exploded like a bomb, the shrapnel being flecks of flesh.

Ange couldn't stomach to watch the whole grotesque ordeal, and turned away to face a shinning door far away, radiating a brilliance amongst the sun-like antechamber before her. She took a few steps out of the now illuminated chamber of darkness, Chamber of Goth, only to waltz in the light, followed by Ayumii, their eyes gazing at the doorway before them. "What's that, Ayumii?"

"That is the gateway to reality, a world that many refuse to ever face. It's a world that people want to reshape and alter in like magic in order to find pleasure, to find a paradise without ever needing to work at it. It is the world that Rubeus could not endure, a world that you have finally embraced. It is where Wiseman resides, working to reshape reality like you will soon try to reshape it into your own paradise, or at least as close as paradise to what you can create. Do you wish to cross the threshold, Ange? Sailor Sun?" Ayumii gently extended her hand as the door slowly creaked open, rays of brilliant light exploding from beyond its border.

Ange accepted her hand.

As the light faded, Ange found herself drifting in the air, held up only by Ayumii's grasp. There, drifting high above them, was the monstrosity that Ange had resided in for the longest time. It was a lizard-like entity with eight legs, like a spider, its chameleon-like eyes rolling its skull as a single figure appeared on the crown of his skull. His black cloak, charred and flared, flapped like a flag as his frail body remained enveloped in darkness. A dark aura flickered around him as he glanced down at the two soldiers drifting alone in the air before him, an air of light surrounding the two figures in the dark sky, the sun slowly setting in the distance.

"Wiseman!" Ange shrieked, her body cloaked in her Sailor uniform, her fists clenched.

"That's impossible," Wiseman stammered, her voice strong and loud, yet gentle and whispery at the same time, "How could you survive that? You should have been swallowed up by the darkness I put into your very soul!"

"Well, I can see beyond your lies! I know you were just trying to deceive me!" Ange snapped, "I know the truth of it all."

"And what's that, Ange?" Wiseman asked, sarcastically, extending his hand once again, sparks of darkness flying around it like a great glove.

"I thought in order to be great, I had to change reality with my own hand, to reshape the world myself. I was wrong. A person can't just force their will on everyone. They can't just make everything great by the power of magic. The power to make people notice you is more simple than that. It's a power that everyone has, but most people forget. Do you know what that power is? Love."

"Love?"

"Yes, love! Friendship! The invisible bonds between people."

"Friendship! So you sing the same ridiculous tune as your obnoxious mother and ignorant sister? I suppose your entire family will continue to declare that power, love, is the strongest force in the universe," laughed Wiseman, "What has love ever done for you?"

"It brought me where I am now, alive, enlightened, and showed me the truth!"

"But it won't keep you alive! It won't allow you to live to see tomorrow! And it certainly won't allow you to defeat me!"

It was only then that the side of the great beast that Wiseman stood on exploded outward into a great array of frozen scarlet blood, the ribs shattering like glass, the shrapnel of bone soaring outward, piercing the demon's hide, the blood, the organs, sending blood in all directions as the creature shrieked. There, standing in the crater on the side of the creature's body, was Sailor Mercury, her visor drawn as she fired a large jet of icy water at the beast's side, freezing and shattering the body of that damn monster. Soon, the legs tumbled downward as the creature fell to Earth in the form of shards of ice that evaporated downward. Wiseman leapt off of the surface of the beast, drifting into the air, toward the atmosphere, as Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Mask, along with a mass of drifting bodies.

"Damn it!" stammered Wiseman as he drifted higher in the air, his hands raised over his head, a sphere of darkness in his hands, radiating black light in his hands as he glared down at Sailor Mercury, "You'll be the first one to die!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

As Wiseman fired a blast of light that soared down at Sailor Mercury, a jet of water collided headlong into it, tearing through it, sending mist into the air as the warrior of the first planet struggled to stand her ground. There a great entity who had the power to annihilate the world as they knew it was assaulting her. Her power was at its maximum, and even now, she was at his mercy. Ange couldn't allow this to come to pass! She flew to the soldier's side, a great ball of orange in her hand, a ball she fired into the air alongside the jets of water against the jet of negative looking darkness. The two attacks spiraled along one another as Ayumii joined their ranks, firing her own blast alongside them. The trinity of attacks were interlocked in a triple helix, struggling against Wiseman's single attack. As the trio of them struggled against Wiseman's attack, Ange could only stare up at their enemy, his cloak flared out, flapping painfully around in the wind as he struggled beyond all hope to resist the force of the three remaining Senshi. Wiseman could barely remain in the air, barely remain stable, as the jet of darkness gave way to the three attacks as they slowly progressed toward Wiseman.

"No! This is impossible! Down right impossible!" Wiseman stammered as she glared down at the warriors beneath her, "This cannot be happening! Not again! Not again!"

"Do it!" Tuxedo Mask shrieked as the three attacks plowed into the jet of energy, into Wiseman's palms, into Wiseman's body, through it, leaving nothing but ash and soot, ashes that were thrown into the atmosphere.

A second passed, maybe two, before anyone breathed.

"Is he gone?" Ange asked, anxiously.

"I can sense a fragment of darkness trying to come together," Sailor Mercury replied, anxiously, "I don't think it's possible for us to eliminate Wiseman like this. We need to determine just where the core of Wiseman's power is, and remove that from the vicinity. If we can get ride of it, in a matter of a minute, Wiseman would be unable to regenerate, and collapse completely."

Ange knew what the right choice was. "I'm the source. I'm the one who brought Wiseman here."

Sailor Mercury's face grew pale. "We're going to have to remove you from the location, far away."

"How far?" Ange replied.

"I don't know, miles and miles, far enough so that your aura would be separated from Wiseman for the span of a minute."

"I know of a way," Ayumii replied, her head lowered.

"What?" Sailor Mercury replied, "Tell us fast, before Wiseman reassembles himself."

"We don't need to move you in any of the ordinary three dimensions. We must move you away in the fourth: time. We'll bring you back to the future as your mother wanted. Come with me, Ange, and I'll take you to the future with me once more."

Ange considered this. She knew it was inevitable, she knew that her mother would no doubt be furious at her for leaving her world behind as she had before. Now, however, she knew it was the only way to survive, for the safety of the world. She didn't feel any loss of leaving this past behind. It was inferior to her own, and she already had a relationship with these people in the future, so it wasn't like saying goodbye at all. Sighing at long last, she said, a frown on her lips, "Take me there now."

"Grab my hand." As Ayumii extended her hand, a small orb appeared in her hands. Glancing over at Sailor Mercury, she said, simply, "Fair well."

"Please tell them what happened," Ange replied, "I wouldn't want my sister to worry."

"I understand," Sailor Mercury replied, anxiously, "Hurry! We only have thirty seconds before Wiseman fully assembles himself!"

There was a flash of light in Ayumii's hand, and all became white, all disappeared, and Ange felt sweet slumber overtake her once more.

"Ange? Ange?" The gentle sound of the speaker's lovely voice filled Ange's ears as reality slowly returned to her. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, her gentle eyes glancing up into the graceful forgiving eyes of her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity. She jumped with a start. Here she was in the future, returned home, Wiseman now nothing more than a forgotten memory left dissolving in the past.

"Mommy!"

"Are you alright, my daughter?" her mother replied, a smile on her face.

"I'm fine, mommy." Tears filled Ange's eyes as she glanced up at her mother's eyes, her body trembling anxiously as her skin turned white, the fear of her mother's wrath, of what her mother no doubt thought of her. She had sinned, committed atrocities that no Princess should ever commit, that no human being should, or more logically could, ever exist.

"What's wrong, Ange?" her mother asked, running her hand up her daughter's arm, a concerned expression on her face.

"Aren't you going to yell at me?" Ange asked, her eyes wavering in their sockets, anxiously.

"Yell at you?" her mother asked, holding both of her arms in her hands.

"I did so much wrong, I disobeyed you, I wanted to be special just like Chibiusa, and I disobeyed you. I'm sorry, but I'm just—just—just—"

"You made a mistake, that's all," her mother replied, a smile slowly slipping up her lips, "Ayumii told me everything that happened, and I can guarantee that everything that happened is in the past, literally. Everything's fine. I mean, nothing bad happened—"

"But Ayumii was killed! Because of me!"

"But she's alive now. I made my fair share of mistakes too, you know. I'm not perfect either, but whenever I made a mistake, I had to stand up and admit I was wrong and just fix everything. I takes a mature person to do something like that. I'm proud of you. I'm so proud."

Despite the tears rolling down her cheeks, despite the anxiety dying away in Ange's body, Ange smiled, her eyes sparkling in joy. "Thank you, mommy. Thank you so much."

THE END


End file.
